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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

deed.

An action or act; something that is done.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/diːd/
  1. An action or act; something that is done.

    One small deed can have one strong effect or more.
  2. A brave or noteworthy action; a feat or exploit.

  3. Action or fact, as opposed to rhetoric or deliberation.

    I have fulfilled my promise in word and in deed.
  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. 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. The legal title to real estate; ownership.

    broadly
    I inherited the deed to the house.
Where this word comes from

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”).

verb/diːd/
  1. To transfer real property by deed.

    informal
    He deeded over the mineral rights to some fellas from Denver.
Where this word comes from

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”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.