English Explanatory Dictionary

deed

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An action or act; something that is done.
  2. A brave or noteworthy action; a feat or exploit.
  3. Action or fact, as opposed to rhetoric or deliberation.
  4. A legal instrument that is executed under seal or before a witness; sometimes required for certain legal activities, such as the transfer of certain kinds of property.
  5. The legal title to real estate; ownership.
verb
  1. To transfer real property by deed.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

/diːd/ en-us-deed.ogg

Word forms

deed deeds deeding deeded

Etymology

From Middle English dede, from Old English dēd, dǣd (“deed, act”), from Proto-West Germanic *dādi, from Proto-Germanic *dēdiz (“deed”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁tis (“deed, action”). Analyzable through Proto-Germanic as do + -th. Doublet of thesis. The real estate sense derives from the fact that property deeds are traditionally used to demonstrate proof of ownership of a legal title in common law jurisdictions, such as England & Wales and most of the United States. Cognates Cognate with West Frisian died, Dutch daad (“deed, act”), German Low German Daad, German Tat (“deed, action”), Swedish, Norwegian and Danish dåd (“act, action”). The Proto-Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek θέσις (thésis, “setting, arrangement”).

Synonyms

act action

Derived words

a good deed is its own reward almsdeed bond for deed counterdeed deeder deedful deedholder deedholding deedless deedly deed of appointment deed of assumption deed of retirement deed of trust deed poll deedwork deedworthy deedy do the deed estoppel by deed fordede indeed in very deed misdeed mortgage deed no good deed ever goes unpunished no good deed goes unpunished overdede propaganda by the deed propaganda of the deed quit claim deed quitclaim deed redeed special warranty deed time the deed to the need title deed trust deed deedable undeeded

Translations

Arabic: عَمَل Arabic: فِعْل Arabic: وَثِيقَة Armenian: արարք Bashkir: ғәмәл Belarusian: дзе́янне Belarusian: акт Bulgarian: де́йствие Bulgarian: постъпка Bulgarian: дело Bulgarian: акт Bulgarian: докуме́нт Catalan: fet Catalan: acte Catalan: escriptura Catalan: acta Chinese Mandarin: 行為 /行为 Chinese Mandarin: 契據 /契据 Cornish: gwrians Cornish: ober Cornish: chartour Czech: skutek Czech: čin Danish: gerning Danish: handling Danish: skøde Dutch: daad Dutch: akte Esperanto: faro Esperanto: ago Ewe: dɔwɔwɔ Finnish: teko Finnish: toimi Finnish: asiakirja French: acte French: action French: œuvre French: acte juridique West-Frisian: died Galician: feito Galician: obras Galician: escritura Galician: estormento Galician: título German: Tat German: Akt German: Werk German: Urkunde Gothic: 𐍄𐌰𐌿𐌹 Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍃𐍄𐍅𐌴𐌹 Greek: πράξη Greek: συμβόλαιο Greek: συμβολαιογραφική πράξη Ancient Greek: πρᾶξις Hebrew: מעשה Hebrew: מסמך Hebrew: חוזה Hindi: कार्य Hindi: करनी Hungarian: tett Hungarian: oklevél Icelandic: dáð Italian: fatto Italian: gesto Italian: gesta Italian: atto notarile Italian: contratto Japanese: 行為 Kazakh: қылық Korean: 행위 Central Kurdish: کار Central Kurdish: کردەوە Northern Kurdish: kirin Northern Kurdish: kiryar Northern Kurdish: emel Northern Kurdish: faliyet Latin: āctiō Latin: āctus Luxembourgish: Dot Macedonian: дело Macedonian: постапка Macedonian: поседовен лист Macedonian: тапија Macedonian: договор Norwegian: dåd Norwegian: gjerning Persian: کردار Persian: کار Persian: اعمال Plautdietsch: Woakj Plautdietsch: Ieejendeemabewiess Polish: czyn Portuguese: ação Portuguese: feito Portuguese: ato Portuguese: contrato Portuguese: escritura Romanian: faptă
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on D Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary