denne

Denne is a term used in Danish and Norwegian as a demonstrative determiner and pronoun meaning "this" or, in plural, "these." It appears before a noun and agrees with gender and number: denne for singular common-gender nouns, dette for singular neuter nouns, and disse for plural nouns. It can function attributively, as in denne bok (this book) or disse bøker (these books), and can also stand alone as a pronoun meaning "this one."

In Danish, the forms are used with en-words and et-words accordingly; in Norwegian Bokmål they function similarly, though usage can vary regionally. In both languages, denne contributes to proximal deixis, distinguishing items near the speaker from others.

Aside from its linguistic use, Denne may occur as a surname or place name in Scandinavian-influenced regions, though it is not widely cited as a given name. When used as a place name, it typically appears within local or historical contexts rather than as a major geographic entity.

Etymology and related forms: Denne derives from older demonstratives in the Germanic family and has cognates across related languages, aligning with words that signal proximity in English this/these. The forms dette and disse are closely related as neuter and plural demonstratives.