"D" Word Origins

dissident

Latin

From Latin dissidens, "sitting apart, disagreeing," from dis- + sedere ("to sit").

dissimilar

Origin

From dis- + similar.

dissimilarity

Origin

From dis- + similarity or dissimilar + -ity.

dissimilation

Origin

From dis- + -similation, after assimilation.

dissimulation

Origin

Inherited from Middle English dissimulacioun, from Old French dissimulation, from Latin dissimulātiō; equivalent to dissimule + -ation.

dissipate

Latin

From Latin dissipare, "to scatter, disperse," from dis- ("apart") + supare/supō ("to throw").

dissipation

Origin

From Middle English dissipacion, dissipacioun, from Late Latin dissipātiō. Morphologically dissipate + -ion.

dissociate

Latin

From Latin dissociare 'to separate', from dis- 'apart' plus sociare 'to join', from socius 'companion'.

dissociation

Origin

Borrowed from French dissociation, from Latin dissociātiō(n).

dissociative

Origin

From dissociate + -ive.

dissolution

Latin

From Latin dissolutio, "a loosening, breaking up," from dissolvere.

dissolvability

Origin

From dissolve + -ability.

dissolve

Latin

From Latin dissolvere, "to loosen apart," from dis- ("apart") + solvere ("to loosen").

dissolvent

Origin

Borrowed from Latin dissolvēns.

dissolver

Origin

From dissolve + -er.

dissonance

Latin

From Latin dissonantia, from dis- + sonare ("to sound").

dissuade

Latin

From Latin dissuadere, "to advise against," from dis- ("against") + suadere ("to urge, advise").

dissuasion

Origin

From Middle English dissuasioun, from Middle French dissuasion.

dissympathy

Origin

From dis- + sympathy.

distaff

Origin

From Middle English distaf (“distaff”), from Old English distæf (“distaff”), from *dis- (“bunch of flax”) (cognate with Middle Low German dise (“bunch of flax on a distaff”)) + stæf (“staff”) (from Proto-Germanic *stabaz (“staff, stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ-). Senses 3 and 5 (“anything traditionally done by or considered of importance to women only”; “a woman, or women considered as a group”) refer to the fact that spinning was traditionally done by women.

distal

Origin

Formed from "distant" + -al.

distance

Latin

From Old French destance, from Latin distantia, from distare ("to stand apart"), from dis- + stare ("to stand").

distant

Latin

From Old French distant, from Latin distans, present participle of distare, "to stand apart."

distaste

Origin

From dis- + taste.

distasteful

Origin

From distaste + -ful or dis- + tasteful.

distemper

Origin

From Old French destemprer, from Latin distemperare.

distended

Latin

Past participle of "distend," from Latin distendere, "to stretch out."

distich

Origin

From Latin distichon (“a poem of two verses, a distich consisting of a hexameter and a pentameter”), from Ancient Greek δίστιχον (dístikhon).

distil

Origin

From Late Middle English distillen (“to fall, flow, or shed in drops, drop, trickle; to shed drops; to fill (the eyes) with tears; (alchemy, medicine) to subject (something) to distillation; to obtain (something) using distillation; to distil; to condense or vaporize; (figuratively) to give (good fortune) to; to say (slanderous words)”) [and other forms], from Old French distiller (modern French distiller (“to distil”)), and from its etymon Latin distīllāre, a variant of Latin dēstīllāre, the present active infinitive of dēstīllō (“to drip or trickle down; to distil”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘down, down from, down to’) + stīllō (“to drip, drop, trickle; to distil”) (from stīlla (“drop of liquid; (figuratively) small quantity”), probably a diminutive of stīria (“ice drop; icicle”)). Cognates * French distiller (“to distil”) * Italian distillare (“to distil”) * Occitan distillar * Portuguese destilar (“to distil; to drip”) * Spanish destilar (“to distil; to exude; to filter”)

distillation

Origin

From Middle English distillacioun, from Anglo-Norman distillacioun, from Latin distīllātiōnem, accusative of distīllātiō.

distillery

Origin

From "distill" + -ery ("place of").

distinct

Latin

From Latin distinctus, past participle of distinguere, "to distinguish."

distinction

Latin

From Latin distinctio, "a separating, dividing," from distinguere.

distinctive

Latin

From Latin distinctus + -ive.

distinctly

Origin

Built from distinct plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

distinguish

Latin

From Old French distinguer, itself from Latin distinguere, "to separate by pricking or marking off" — built from dis- ("apart") and a root related to the English word stink (originally about a sharp, distinct smell).

distinguished

Origin

The past-participle form of distinguish, used as an adjective from the sense of "having been marked out" for merit.

distort

Latin

From Latin distortum, the past participle of distorquēre, "to twist" or "to torture" — combining dis- ("apart") with torquēre ("to twist"), the same root that gives us torque and torture.

distortion

Latin

From Latin distortio, "a twisting," from the same root as distort.

distract

Latin

From Latin distractus, past participle of distrahere, "to pull apart," from dis- ("apart") and trahere ("to pull," also seen in tractor and traction).

distractible

Origin

From distract + -ible.

distraction

Latin

From Latin distractio, "a pulling apart," built on the same root as distract.

distraint

Origin

From distrain, on the model of such pairs as constrain, constraint and restrain, restraint.

distraught

Middle English

From Middle English distraught, a blend of distract (in an older sense meaning "pulled apart mentally") and straught, an old past participle of stretch — so originally something like "stretched to breaking point."

distress

Latin

From Old French destrecier, "to restrain or afflict," ultimately from Latin distringere, "to pull apart" or "stretch tight" — the same root behind district and strain.

distribute

Latin

From Latin distribuere, "to divide out," combining dis- ("apart") with tribuere ("to give" or "grant") — the same root as tribute.

distributee

Origin

From distribute + -ee.

distribution

Latin

From Latin distributio, "a dividing up," from the same root as distribute.