"D" Word Origins

disinfectant

French

From disinfect plus the suffix -ant ("agent that does something"), following the French désinfectant.

disinform

Origin

Back-formation from disinformation, equivalent to dis- + inform.

disinformation

Russian · 1939

From dis- + information. The word took on its modern sense of deliberately planted false information in English around 1939, borrowed from the Russian dezinformatsiya used by Soviet intelligence.

disinherit

Origin

From Middle English disenheriten, equivalent to dis- + inherit.

disintegrate

Origin · 1785

Recorded in English since around 1785, formed from dis- + integrate — the opposite of making something whole.

disintegration

Origin

From disintegrate plus the suffix -ion, describing the process or result of coming apart.

disintegrator

Origin

From disintegrate + -or.

disinterested

Origin

From disinterest ("to make impartial") plus -ed, or directly from dis- + interested.

disjoin

Origin

From Middle English disjoynen, from Old French desjoindre, from Latin disiungere (“to separate”), from dis-, di- (“apart”) + iungere (“to join”). Equivalent to dis- + join.

disjoint

Origin

From Middle English disjoynen, from Old French desjoindre (“disjoin”), from Latin disiungō, from dis- + iungō (“join”).

disjunction

Origin

From Old French disjunction, from Latin disiunctiō.

disk

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek diskos, "a round plate for throwing" — the same root that also gives us "disc," "discus," "dish," and "desk."

diskette

Origin

From disk + -ette, by analogy with cassette.

dislike

Origin

From dis- + like, forming the natural opposite of "like."

dislocation

Medieval Latin

From Old French, ultimately from Medieval Latin dislocatio, meaning "a putting out of place."

dislodge

Old French

From Old French desloger, from dis- + lodge — literally "to remove from lodging."

disloyal

Anglo-Norman

From Anglo-Norman desleal/desloial, formed from dis- + loyal.

disloyalty

Old French

From Old French desloiauté, built from des- + loiauté ("loyalty").

dismal

Old French

From Old French (li) dis mals, "the bad days" — a medieval reference to certain unlucky calendar days, which by Middle English had broadened to mean "gloomy" or "dreary."

dismantle

Middle French

From Middle French desmanteler, literally "to strip off a cloak" (des- + mantel, "coat"), later broadened to mean taking anything apart.

dismantlement

Origin

* dismantle + -ment

dismay

Vulgar Latin

From Old French esmaier, "to frighten," probably from a Vulgar Latin word meaning "to deprive of strength" — ultimately related to the same root as "may" and "main" (as in "with might and main").

dismayful

Origin

From dismay + -ful.

dismember

Old French

From Old French desmembrer, from des- + membre ("limb").

dismemberment

Origin

From dismember plus the suffix -ment.

dismiss

Latin

From Latin dimissus, "sent away," the past participle of dimittere (dis- + mittere, "to send").

dismissal

Origin · 1800

Formed from dismiss + -al in the nineteenth century, on the same pattern as "committal," eventually replacing the older word "dismission."

dismissed with prejudice

Latin

Legal English, in which prejudice keeps its older sense of harm or detriment to a party's rights, from Latin praejudicium 'prior judgment, damage'.

dismissive

Origin

From dismiss plus the adjective-forming suffix -ive.

dismount

Old French

From dis- + mount, likely modeled on the Old French desmonter.

Disney

French

An English surname of Norman French origin, ultimately traced to a place name in Normandy; it became world-famous through animator and studio founder Walt Disney.

Disneyland

Origin

Formed from the Disney name plus -land, following the pattern of place names like "Wonderland."

disobedience

Old French

From Old French desobedience, itself from dis- + obedience.

disobedient

Old French

From Old French desobedient, built from dis- + obedient.

disobey

Old French

From Old French desobeir, from dis- + obey.

disoblige

Origin

From Middle French desobliger. By surface analysis, dis- + oblige.

disorder

Middle French

From Middle French desordre, from dis- + order.

disorderly

Origin

From disorder plus the adjective-forming suffix -ly.

disorganization

Origin

From French désorganiser. Equivalent to dis- + organization.

disorganize

Origin

From French désorganiser, equivalent to dis- + organize.

disorientation

Origin

From dis- + orientation, or from disorientate plus -ion.

disown

Origin

From dis- + own, literally meaning "to stop claiming as one's own."

disparage

Origin

From Middle English disparage (noun), disparagen (verb), from Old French desparage (noun), desparagier (verb), from des- (“dis-”) + parage (“equal rank, rank”).

disparagement

Origin

From Old French desparagement.

disparity

Latin

From Middle French disparité, from Latin dispar, "unequal" — from dis- ("not") + par ("equal"), the same root found in "parity" and "par".

dispart

Origin

From Italian dispartire and its source, Latin dispartire.

dispatch

Italian · 1500

Borrowed in the 1500s from Spanish despachar or Italian dispacciare, meaning to hurry something along or send it off — likely picked up through diplomatic contacts with Spain and Italy.

dispel

Latin

From Latin dispellere, "to drive apart or scatter" — from dis- ("apart") + pellere ("to push, drive").