"desu" meaning in English

See desu in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Particle

IPA: /ˈdɛsuː/ [Received-Pronunciation], /dɛs/ [Received-Pronunciation]
Rhymes: -ɛsuː, -ɛs Etymology: Borrowed from Japanese です (desu, “be”), the polite form of the Japanese copula, found most often at the end of a sentence. Know Your Meme attributes its spread to 4chan memes of the Rozen Maiden character Suiseiseki who ends every sentence with desu (see also キャラ語尾). Etymology templates: {{bor|en|ja|です||be|tr=desu}} Japanese です (desu, “be”) Head templates: {{head|en|particle|head=|sort=}} desu, {{en-particle}} desu
  1. (slang, humorous, chiefly fandom slang) Used at the end of a sentence as an assertive particle. Wikipedia link: Rozen Maiden Tags: humorous, slang
    Sense id: en-desu-en-particle-Fwba2v~0 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English particles, English terms with collocations, Pages with 3 entries, Pages with entries, Pages with 3 entries, Pages with entries Disambiguation of Pages with 3 entries: 56 35 4 5 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 55 37 4 4 Topics: lifestyle
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        "2": "ja",
        "3": "です",
        "4": "",
        "5": "be",
        "tr": "desu"
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      "expansion": "Japanese です (desu, “be”)",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from Japanese です (desu, “be”), the polite form of the Japanese copula, found most often at the end of a sentence. Know Your Meme attributes its spread to 4chan memes of the Rozen Maiden character Suiseiseki who ends every sentence with desu (see also キャラ語尾).",
  "head_templates": [
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          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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          "_dis": "56 35 4 5",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "55 37 4 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "this desu ― this, tbh",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002 March 20, Mahoronyan [username], “Re: I was wrong about Kokoro Library...”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):",
          "text": "My contribution desu.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003 January 30, Ethan Hammond, “Re: Nuku Nuku DVD Impressions”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):",
          "text": "Freaky desu.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 February 22, sanjian [username], “Re: FMA 47 - Sealing the Homunculus”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):",
          "text": "Awww, but it was just getting fun, desu.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
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        "Used at the end of a sentence as an assertive particle."
      ],
      "id": "en-desu-en-particle-Fwba2v~0",
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        "(slang, humorous, chiefly fandom slang) Used at the end of a sentence as an assertive particle."
      ],
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        "humorous",
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "lifestyle"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Rozen Maiden"
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  "sounds": [
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      "ipa": "/ˈdɛsuː/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
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      "ipa": "/dɛs/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
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    },
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      "rhymes": "-ɛsuː"
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      "rhymes": "-ɛs"
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        "3": "です",
        "4": "",
        "5": "be",
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      },
      "expansion": "Japanese です (desu, “be”)",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from Japanese です (desu, “be”), the polite form of the Japanese copula, found most often at the end of a sentence. Know Your Meme attributes its spread to 4chan memes of the Rozen Maiden character Suiseiseki who ends every sentence with desu (see also キャラ語尾).",
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  "pos": "particle",
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        "English fandom slang",
        "English humorous terms",
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        "English slang",
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        "Pages with 3 entries",
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        "Rhymes:English/ɛs/1 syllable",
        "Rhymes:English/ɛsuː"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "this desu ― this, tbh",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002 March 20, Mahoronyan [username], “Re: I was wrong about Kokoro Library...”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):",
          "text": "My contribution desu.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003 January 30, Ethan Hammond, “Re: Nuku Nuku DVD Impressions”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):",
          "text": "Freaky desu.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 February 22, sanjian [username], “Re: FMA 47 - Sealing the Homunculus”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):",
          "text": "Awww, but it was just getting fun, desu.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used at the end of a sentence as an assertive particle."
      ],
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        "(slang, humorous, chiefly fandom slang) Used at the end of a sentence as an assertive particle."
      ],
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        "humorous",
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "lifestyle"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Rozen Maiden"
      ]
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  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈdɛsuː/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/dɛs/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛsuː"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛs"
    }
  ],
  "word": "desu"
}

Download raw JSONL data for desu meaning in English (2.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-21 using wiktextract (fef8596 and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.