medieval French silver coin corresponding to the English penny, early 15c., from Old French dener, a small coin of slight value, roughly equivalent to the English penny, in use in France from the time of Charlemagne to early modern times, from Latin denarium, from denarius, name of a Roman coin (source also of Spanish dinero); see denarius.
1540s, in mathematics, "that term of a fraction which indicates the value of the fractional unit" (commonly the number written below the numerator or dividend), from Medieval Latin denominator, agent noun from past-participle stem of denominare "to name," from de- "completely" (see de-) + nominare "to name," from nomen "name" (from PIE root *no-men- "name"). As "one who or that which gives a name," 1570s.
early 15c., denudacioun, "act of stripping off covering, a making bare," from Late Latin denudationem (nominative denudatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin denudare "to lay bare, strip; uncover, expose," from de "away" (see de-) + nudare "to strip," from nudus "naked, bare" (see naked). Figurative use is from 1590s. In geology, "erosion," from 1811.
1807, "to deprive of nationality, remove or destroy the distinct nationality of," from French dénationaliser, which was said in contemporary English publications to have been coined by Napoleon Bonaparte in reference to the nations he had conquered and absorbed into France (denapoleonize was coined shortly thereafter); see de- + nationalize. Meaning "to transfer (an industry, etc.) from national to private ownership" is by 1921. Related: Denationalized; denationalization.
word-forming element meaning "tree," from Greek dendron "tree," sometimes especially "fruit tree" (as opposed to hylē "timber"), from PIE *der-drew-, from root *deru- "to be firm, solid, steadfast," also forming words for "wood, tree."
"make a dent or small hollow in by a blow or pressure," late 14c., from dent (n.). Middle English had dinten, dunten "beat with blows" (mid-13c.), from the earlier form of the noun. Related: Dented; denting.
Old English crypel, "one who creeps, halts, or limps, one partly or wholly deprived of the use of one or more limbs," related to cryppan "to crook, bend," from Proto-Germanic *krupilaz (source also of Old Frisian kreppel, Middle Dutch cropel, German krüppel, Old Norse kryppill). Possibly also related to Old English creopan "to creep" (creopere, literally "creeper," was another Old English word for "crippled person").
In place-names in Middle English, cripple meant "a low opening, a burrow, a den" (such as one must bend or creep to enter), a sense perhaps preserved in the U.S. use of cripple for "a dense thicket or swampy low-land" (1670s).
