2 syllables: De, que. Stress on De.
dek
/dɛk/
Deque is pronounced dek (/dɛk/). It has two syllables (De-que), with the stress on "De". Deque is a noun borrowed from computer science, pronounced as two syllables: de-QUE, with the primary stress on the second syllable. It refers to a double-ended queue data structure that allows insertion and removal of elements from both ends. In practice you’ll hear it in programming discussions and code comments, typically used when talking about algorithms and data handling.
nounDeque is a noun borrowed from computer science, pronounced as two syllables: de-QUE, with the primary stress on the second syllable. It refers to a double-ended queue data structure that allows insertion and removal of elements from both ends. In practice you’ll hear it in programming discussions and code comments, typically used when talking about algorithms and data handling.
"In the algorithm, we push the item to the front of the deque and pop from the back."
"The deque supports O(1) insertion and deletion at both ends."
"We implemented a circular deque to optimize memory usage."
Deque is pronounced as dee-KYOO with two syllables and primary stress on the second syllable. IPA: US /dɪˈkjuː/, UK /dɪˈkjuː/, AU /dɪˈkjuː/. Start with a short, lax d sound, then a quick “ee” vowel, followed by a stressed “kyoo” sound made by rounding the lips and gliding into a long “u” (as in “you”). Think: di-KYOU. You’ll often hear it in CS discussions as two distinct beats: de- and -que.
Common errors: (1) treating it as a single syllable (deck-you); (2) misplacing the stress (placing stress on the first syllable de-, not KYOO); (3) mispronouncing the “kyoo” as a hard ‘kju’ without proper y-glide. Correction: say di- (short i) then KYOO with a clear y- glide to a long u. Practice the sequence d + i + yew with the lips rounded for the final vowel. Record yourself and compare to IPA /dɪˈkjuː/.
Across US/UK/AU, the word remains two syllables with the same /dɪˈkjuː/ pattern. The main variation is vowel quality: US tends to a slightly tensed short i before the y-glide, UK may have a marginally more rounded second vowel, and AU typically mirrors US pronunciation in technical speech but can be slightly softer on the first vowel in rapid speech. Overall, rhoticity is not a factor here; the r is not pronounced.
The difficulty lies in the sudden shift from a short, lax /ɪ/ to a high, rounded /juː/ with a strong y-glide. This creates a tense vowel transition and a long, rounded second syllable that can blur in rapid speech. Also, in some contexts, speakers might incorrectly stress the first syllable or fuse the syllables, creating a stuttering effect. Focus on the clear separation: dɪ- KYOO.
Deque’s -que ending is not pronounced as a hard ‘cue’ but as a distinct ‘kyoo’ with a concurrent y-glide from /ɪ/ to /juː/. The initial /d/ is a light alveolar stop, not a heavy plosive. Emphasize the transition by lightly raising the middle/back part of the tongue toward a high front position for the /juː/ and rounding the lips slightly to produce the /uː/ quality.
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Deque originated in computer science as a contraction of “double-ended queue.” The term was formed to describe a data structure that behaves like a queue but allows insertions and removals at both ends. The idea of a queue dates to early computing concepts for buffering and scheduling, but the explicit notion of a deque emerged in the 1960s and 1970s as authors explored more versatile data structures. The first known formal use appears in academic literature and programming texts from that era, where researchers demonstrated deques as generalizations of stacks and queues. The word itself does not derive from a natural language beyond its acronym-like creation within English-speaking CS communities; it’s primarily a technical term, adopted widely in programming languages and standard libraries across decades. Its pronunciation settled around di-QUE, with the second syllable carrying the primary stress in many discussions, which aligns with its use as a specific technical noun rather than a common English root word.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Deque" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "Deque"
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