dete

From Vulgar Latin *depta, contracted from Latin debita. The early contraction possibly also underlies in Old Occitan deuta, whereas Old Spanish debda was contracted at a later stage.

• IPA^(key): /ˈde.tə/

dete oblique singular, f (oblique plural detes, nominative singular dete, nominative plural detes)

1. debt
   • c. 1250, Rutebeuf, Ci encoumence la vie de Sainte Elyzabel, fille au roi de Hongrie:

     Ele paioit por li la dete.

     She paid the debt for him.

• Middle French: debte
  • French: dette
• → Italian: detta
• → Middle English: dette, debte
  • English: debt

• dijéte (Ijekavian)

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *dětę, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to suck, suckle”).

déte n (Cyrillic spelling де́те, relational adjective dèčjī)

1. child, kid

As opposed to other Slavic languages, in Serbo-Croatian dete does not have a plural – the collective noun deca is used instead.