"D" Word Origins

discretion

Latin

From Old French discretion, from Latin discretio, "separation, distinction" — the same Latin root as "discreet."

discretionary

Origin

From discretion plus the adjective suffix -ary, "pertaining to."

discriminate

Latin

From Latin discriminare, "to divide, distinguish," from discrimen, "a dividing line" — from discernere, "to separate, discern."

discrimination

Latin

From Latin discriminatio, the noun form of discriminare, "to distinguish, separate."

disculpate

Origin

Borrowed from Medieval Latin disculpātus, perfect passive participle of disculpō (“to disculpate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dis- (“off”, denoting the ending of an action) + culpō (“to blame”), from culpa (“fault”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of disculp.

discus

Ancient Greek

From Latin discus, itself from Ancient Greek diskos meaning a disk or throwing-plate. The same root gave us "dish," "desk," and "dais."

discuss

Latin

From Latin discutere, "to shake apart or examine," built from dis- ("apart") and quatere ("to shake") — the idea of shaking an issue apart to look at every side of it.

discussion

Latin

From Old French discussion, from Latin discussio, tied to the same root as "discuss" — literally a "shaking apart" of an issue.

disdain

Latin

From Old French desdeignier, ultimately from Latin dignus ("worthy") with a negating prefix — literally "to consider unworthy."

disdainful

Origin

From disdain + -ful.

disease

Old French

From Old French desaise, literally "lack of ease" — built from des- ("dis-") plus aise ("ease"). The word originally meant discomfort in general before narrowing to mean illness.

diseased

Origin

* disease + -ed

disembark

French

From dis- ("reverse of") plus embark, tracing back to French bark/barque, meaning "boat" — so disembark literally means to leave the boat.

disembroil

Origin

From dis- + embroil.

disemployment

Origin

From dis- + employment.

disenable

Origin

From dis- + enable.

disenchant

Origin

From Middle French desenchanter, equivalent to dis- + enchant.

disenchantment

Origin

From dis- + enchantment. In the social sciences sense a calque of German Entzauberung, as used by sociologist Max Weber.

disengage

French

From French desengager, built from dis- plus engage — the opposite of locking or committing to something.

disengaged

Origin

From disengage + -ed.

disengagement

Origin

From dis- + engage + -ment.

disenroll

Origin

From dis- + enroll.

disfavour

Origin

From English dis- + favour, from Middle French desfaveur.

disfigure

Origin

From Middle English disfiguren, from Anglo-Norman desfigurer.

disgorge

Origin

From Middle French desgorger.

disgrace

French

From French disgracier, built from dis- plus grace — literally the loss of favor or grace.

disgraceful

Origin

From disgrace plus the suffix -ful, meaning "full of disgrace."

disgregate

Origin

First attested in 1593; borrowed from Latin disgregātus, perfect passive participle of disgregō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

disgregation

Origin

Borrowed from Latin disgregātiō, from dis- (“apart”) + grex (“flock”). The thermodynamics sense was introduced in 1862 by German physicist Rudolf Clausius in his formulation of what is now called the second law of thermodynamics.

disgruntled

Origin

From the older verb "disgruntle," from dis- (intensifier) plus the now-rare "gruntle" (to grumble) — so disgruntled originally meant "thoroughly grumbling."

disguise

Old French

From Old French desguiser, built from des- ("dis-") plus guise ("manner, appearance") — literally to change one's "guise" or outward manner.

disgust

Latin

From French desgouster, from des- ("dis-") plus gouster ("to taste"), from Latin gustus — literally meaning to "lose one's taste" for something.

disgusting

Origin

From disgust plus -ing, describing something that causes that reaction.

dish

Latin

From Old English disc, from a West Germanic word for "table" or "dish," ultimately borrowed from Latin discus — the same root that gave us "desk" and "discus."

disheartened

Origin

From the verb hearten.

disher

Origin

From dish plus the agent suffix -er.

dishonest

Latin

From Old French deshoneste, from Latin dehonestus — built from dis- plus honest, literally "without honesty."

dishonesty

Old French

From Middle English dishoneste, from Old French deshoneste, built from dis- plus honesty.

dishonor

Old French

From Old French deshonor, built from dis- plus honor.

dishonour

Old French

From Old French deshonor, built from dis- plus honour.

dishoom

Origin

Borrowed from Hindi ढिशूम (ḍhiśūm).

dishwasher

Middle English

From Middle English dysche wescheare, built from dish plus washer.

disilane

Origin

From di- + silane.

disillusion

Origin

Built from dis- plus illusion — literally the removal of an illusion.

disillusioned

Origin

Built from disillusion (to free someone from a mistaken belief) plus the ending -ed, so it literally means "having had one's illusions removed."

disillusionment

Origin

From dis- + illusion + -ment.

disimprovement

Origin

From dis- + improvement.

disinfect

French

From dis- ("undo") plus infect, echoing the French désinfecter — literally "to remove infection from."