Word.ws English Dictionary

Derek

/ˈdɛɹɪk/

Derek proper noun: a male given name from the Germanic languages.

Proper noun

Derek

  1. A male given name from the Germanic languages.
    • "Do you think so? Her husband has an odd name - Derek Keppel. He is a musician - a violinist."1895, The American Magazine, Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, page 446
    • We do not entertain as much anymore because of Derek. (He produces strain. We have to pretend he doesn't.) I used to like him when I still thought he was normal. I was fond of him. I used to call him Dirk, and Kiddo, Steamshovel, Dinky Boy, and Dicky Dare. Till I found out what he was. Now it's...1974, Joseph Heller, Something happened, →ISBN, page 509
  2. A surname.

Examples of Derek in a sentence

  • We do not entertain as much anymore because of Derek. (He produces strain.1974, Joseph Heller, Something happened, →ISBN, page 509:
  • Frederick or Derek Boothby was in his late fifties, the son of a naval officer and a daughter of the Earl of Limerick.2010, James Robertson, And the Land Lay Still, Hamish Hamilton, →ISBN, page 292:

Forms of Derek

alternative formDerick
alternative formDerrick
alternative formDeryck

Origin of Derek

Borrowed in the Middle Ages from a Middle Low German variant of Theodoric, and revived in the 19th century.

Words formed from Derek

Words that rhyme with Derek

12 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about Derek

What does Derek mean?
Derek means a male given name from the Germanic languages.
How do you use Derek in a sentence?
We do not entertain as much anymore because of Derek. (He produces strain.
What part of speech is Derek?
Derek is a proper noun.
How do you pronounce Derek?
Derek is pronounced /ˈdɛɹɪk/.

Words near Derek in the dictionary

  1. dereifies
  2. dereify
  3. dereifying
  4. dereism
  5. dereistic
  6. Derek
  7. derelict
  8. derelicted
  9. derelicting
  10. dereliction
  11. derelictions

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Derek (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Derek.wav.

Cite this entry: “Derek.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/derek. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.