from Latin dis- apart; in some cases, via Old French des-. In compound words of Latin origin, dis- becomes dif- before f and di- before some consonants
dis-2
combining form
variant ofdi-1⇒dissyllable
dis-1
Word Origin
1
a Latin prefix meaning “apart,” “asunder,” “away,” “utterly,” or having a privative, negative, or reversing force (see de-, un-2. ); used freely, especially with these latter senses, as an English formative:
< Latin (akin to bis, Greekdís twice); before f, dif-; before some consonants, di-; often replacing obsolete des- < Old French
dis-2
1
variant of di-1. before s:dissyllable.
Related Words
descant
discalced
discharge
discourse
disintegrate
displode
dis-I.
a prefix of Latin origin meaning 'apart', 'asunder', 'away', 'in different directions' as in dismiss, disrupt, dissent, or having a privative, negative, or reversing force (see de- and un-2), used freely, especially with these latter significations, as an English formative, as in disability, disaffirm, disbar, disbelief, discontent, disentangle, dishearten, disinfect, dislike, disown, disrelish.
Also, di-. [Latin (akin to Latin bis, Greek dis twice, ultimately, in twain); before f, dif-; before some consonants, di-; often replacing obsolete des-, from Old French]
II.
variant of di-1, as in dissyllable.
dis- prefix
ETYMOLOGY Middle English dis-, des-, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French des-, dis-, from Latin dis-, literally, apart; akin to Old English te- apart, Latin duo two — more at two
1. a. do the opposite of disestablish b. deprive of (a specified quality, rank, or object) disfranchise c. exclude or expel from disbar 2. opposite or absence of disunion disaffection 3. not disagreeable 4. completely disannul 5. [by folk etymology] : dys- disfunction
dis-
/dɪs/
prefix
1.
expressing negation
表示“否定”：
disadvantage.
2.
denoting reversal or absence of an action or state
表示“相反”, “缺乏”：
diseconomy
disaffirm.
3.
denoting removal of something
表示“去除”：
disbud
disafforest.
■ denoting separation
表示“分离”：
discarnate.
■ denoting expulsion
表示“逐出”：
disbar.
4.
expressing completeness or intensification of an unpleasant or unattractive action
表示“完全地”：
disgruntled.
词源
from Latin, sometimes via Old French des-.
dis- (ME. also dys-) prefix, of L. origin.[L. dis- was related to bis, orig.*dvis=Gr. δίς twice, from duo, δύο two, the primary meaning being ‘two-ways, in twain’.]In L., dis- was retained in full before c, p, q, s, t, sometimes before g, h, j, and usually before the vowels, where, however, it sometimes became dir- (as in diribēre=dis + habēre, dirimĕre=dis + emĕre); before f, it was assimilated, as dif- (as in dif-ferre, dif-fūsus); before the other consonants, it was reduced to dī- (di-1). In late L. the full dis- was often restored instead of dī- (cf.Eng.dismiss, disrupt); and the prefix itself became of more frequent use by being substituted in many words for L. dē-: see de- prefix I. 6. The regular Romanic form of dis- (dif-) was des- (def-) as in OIt., Sp., Pg., Pr., OFr. In F. s (f) before a consonant became mute, and was finally dropped in writing, giving mod.F. dé-. In OF. words of learned origin adopted from L., the L. dis- was usually retained; and under the influence of these, dis- was often substituted for, or used alongside of, des- in the inherited words, e.g.descorder, discorder. The early OF. words in English exhibit the prefix in these forms; des- prevailing in the popular words, dis- (dys-) in those of learned origin. But before the close of the ME. period, the latinized form dis- (dys-) was uniformly substituted, and des- became entirely obsolete, or was retained only in a few words in which its nature was not distinctly recognized, as descant. All words taken from L. in the modern period have dis-.Hence, in English, dis- appears (1) as the English and French representative of L. dis- in words adopted from L.; (2) as the English representative of OF.des- (mod.F. dé-, dés-), the inherited form of L. dis-; (3) as the representative of late L. dis-, Romanic des-, substituted for L. dē-; (4) as a living prefix, arising from the analysis of these, and extended to other words without respect to their origin.In Latin, compounds in dis- were frequently the opposites of those in com-, con-; e.g.concolor of the same colour, discolor of different colours; concordia concord, discordia discord; conjunctio joining together, disjunctio separation; compendium profit, dispendium loss; consentīre to agree in feeling, dissentīre to disagree in opinion, etc. In cl.L. dis- was rarely prefixed to another prefix, though discondūcĕre to be unprofitable, is used by Plautus, and disconvenīre to disagree, by Horace; but in late L. and Romanic, compounds in discon-, expressing the separation of elements of which com-, con- expressed the junction, became very numerous; many words of this type have come down through Fr. into English, where others have been formed after them: cf.discoherent, discomfit, discomfort, discommend, discompose, discompound, disconnect, disconsolate, discontent, discontinue.In some words beginning with dis-, the prefix is di-, the s being the initial of the radical (e.g.di-sperse, di-stinguish). But by identity of phonetic change, dis- here also became des- (sometimes reduced to de-) in OF., whence also des- in ME. as desperse, destincte; at the Renascence these were rectified to dis-.The following are the chief senses of dis- in Latin and English:I. As an etymological element. In the senses:1. ‘In twain, in different directions, apart, asunder,’ hence ‘abroad, away’; as discernĕre to discern, discutĕre discuss, dīlapidāre dilapidate, dīmittĕre dismiss, dīrumpĕre disrupt, dissentīre dissent, distendĕre distend, dīvīdĕre divide.2. ‘Between, so as to separate or distinguish’; as dījūdicāre to dijudicate, dīligĕre choose with a preference, love.3. ‘Separately, singly, one by one’; as dīnumerāre to dinumerate, disputāre dispute.4. With privative sense, implying removal, aversion, negation, reversal of action (cf. de- I. 6), as discalceātus unshod, diffibulāre to unclasp, disjungĕre disjoin, displicēre displease, dissociāre dissociate, dissuādēre, dissuade.5. With verbs having already a sense of division, solution, separation, or undoing, the addition of dis- was naturally intensive, ‘away, out and out, utterly, exceedingly’, as in disperīre to perish utterly, dispudēre to be utterly ashamed, distædēre to be utterly wearied or disgusted; hence it became an intensive in some other verbs, as dīlaudāre to praise exceedingly, discupĕre to desire vehemently, dissuavīrī to kiss ardently. In the same way, English has several verbs in which dis- adds intensity to words having already a sense of undoing, as in disalter, disaltern, disannul.II. As a living prefix, with privative force.(Extended from 4, and like F. des-, dé-, used with verbs, substantives, and adjectives, without regard to their origin.1659O. Walker Oratory 31 Some Prepositions there are, which may be prefixed at pleasure, as, un, dis, re.)6. Forming compound verbs (with their derivative ns., adjs., etc.) having the sense of undoing or reversing the action or effect of the simple verb.Usually formed by the addition of dis- to an existing verb; sometimes, however, formed from a n. or adj. by prefixing dis- and adding a verbal suffix, -ize, -ate, -fy, etc.Most of these formations, including all the more important and permanent, are treated in their alphabetical places as Main words, e.g. disaffirm, disestablish, disown. Of others, chiefly nonce-words, examples are, disanagrammatize, disangularize, disasinate, disasinize (to deprive of asinine nature), disByronize, discompound, disdeify, disdenominationalize, disdub, disexcommunicate, dishellenize, dislegitimate, dispantheonize, dispapalize, dispericraniate, disrestore.1610Donne Pseudo-Martyr §54. 150 In the wordes of him..who cals himself Clarus Bonarscius but is unmask'd and *Disanagrammatized by his fellow who calls him Carolus Scribanus.c1820G. S. Faber Eight Dissert. (1845) II. 14 The more flowing character, thus ultimately rounded off or *disangularized, is..denominated Rabbinical Hebrew.1660Howell Parly of Beasts 28 Doth he [that asse] desire to be *disasinated and become man again?1868Lowell Witchcraft Prose Wks. 1890 II. 361 Two witches who kept an inn made an ass of a young actor..But one day making his escape..he..was *disasinized to the extent of recovering his original shape.1878Scribner's Mag. XV. 45/2 Europe was getting sadly *dis-Byronized.1627–47Feltham Resolves i. xvi. 53 The Papists pourtray Him [God] as an old man and by this means *disdeifie Him.1870Q. Rev. Jan. 292 The existing system [of education] might be *dis⁓denominationalized to the utmost extent compatible with the maintenance of..energy in the conduct of the schools.1566Drant Horace Sat. v. D, I nowe can dubbe a protestant, and eke *disdubbe agayne.1647Power of Keys iv. 105 [It] signifies receiving men into the Church, *disexcommunicating.1852Grote Greece ii. lxxvi. X. 21 During most part of the Peloponnesian war, Cyprus became sensibly *dishellenised.1864Carlyle Fredk. Gt. IV. 258 Legitimated in 1673..dislegitimated again.1801Paris as it was II. xlviii. 137 Marat..was..pantheonized, that is, interred in the Pantheon. When..reason began to resume her empire, he was *dispantheonized.1616M. A. De Dominis Motives 78 A Spectacle..dangerous for Romanists to behold, lest it should presently *dispapalize them.1803Lamb Let. to Mr. Manning (1888) I. 204 Liquor and company..have quite *dispericraniated me, as one may say.1874J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 224 Old churches which have been restored must be *dis-restored.7. With substantives, forming verbs (with their ppl.adjs., etc.) in the senses: a. To strip of, free or rid of, to bereave or deprive of the possession of (the thing expressed by the n. element). Examples: discharacter, discrested, disennui, diseye, disfoliaged, disgeneral, disgig, disheaven, dislaurel, dislipped, disnosed, disnumber, disperiwig, dispowder, disring, distrouser, diswench. See also discloud, disedge, disfrock, dishorn, dispeople, disquantity, disworth, etc.1563–87Foxe A. & M. (1596) 131/2 If he did well in so dispreesting and *discharactering Formosus for such privat offenses.1887Swinburne Locrine iii. ii. 66 Discrowned, disorbed, *discrested.1829Young Lady's Bk. 363 Many persons..have..run all over the world, to *disennui themselves.1719London & Wise Compl.Gard. 192 We search about the Foot of the Artichoak, and separate or slip off the Suckers or Off-slips..and that is called slipping or *diseying.1885Science Apr. V. 352 The *disfoliaged forest.1890Star 26 Nov. 2/7 If Parnell retires, Ireland is enfeebled, and *disgeneraled.1837Carlyle Misc.Ess. (1872) V. 156 Gigmanity *disgigged, one of the saddest predicaments of man!1889Daily News 6 Dec. 3/1 The effort of ‘gig⁓manity’ to escape ‘disgigging’.1877Patmore Unknown Eros (1890) 16 Yet not for this do thou *disheavened be.1836E. Howard R. Reefer lvi, To the assistance of the almost *dislipped master's-mate.1881A. J. Duffield Don Quix. III. xxvi. 189 Showing me here a *disnosed Melisendra.1892Pall Mall G. 1 Sept. 2/3 Stating that the coming Congress of Orientalists is *disnumbered.1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. ix. vii, She was much heated and *dispowdered (dépoudrée).1836T. Hook G. Gurney I. iii. 106, I had forgotten to *dis-ring my finger.1603Florio Montaigne ii. xxxvii. (1893) 508 Mine [attacks of stone] doe strangely *dis-wench me.b. To deprive of the character, rank, or title of; as disanimal, disarchbishop, disboy (-ment), discommittee, disconventicle, diselder, disminion, disminister, disprince, disquixot, dis-Turk. See also disbishop, disbrother, dischurch, disman, etc.1864Times 10 Oct. 7/4 The boy has been so far *dis⁓animaled that his reasoning powers have been roused into full vitality.1875Tennyson Q. Mary iv. ii, We had to *dis-archbishop and unlord And make you simple Cranmer once again.1649*Discommittee [see disjustice].1683O. U. Parish Ch. no Conventicles 34 Their little Variations about Modes..will not be of validity to conventicle or *dis⁓conventicle Parochial Churches.1655Fuller Ch.Hist. viii. xvi. §12 Preferring rather..to un-Pastor and *dis-Elder themselves.1599Chapman Hum. Dayes M. Dram. Wks. 1873 I. 73 Neuer was minion so *disminioned.1743H. Walpole Lett. H. Mann (1833) I. 280 (D.) Can you think..him [Lord Orford] so totally *disministered as to leave all thoughts of what he has been?1847Tennyson Princess v. 29 For I was drenched with ooze, and torn with briers..And all one rag, *disprinced from head to heel.1832J. P. Kennedy Swallow B. v, The most *disquixotted cavalier that ever hung up his shield.1891G. Meredith One of our Conq. II. iii. 54 To *dis-Turk themselves.c. To turn out, put out, expel, or dislodge from the place or receptacle implied (cf. de- II. 2 b); as discastle, dischest, discoach, disroost. See also disbar, disbench, disbosom, discradle, etc.1876G. Meredith Beauch. Career I. ii. 24 The answer often unseated, and once *discastled, them.1579J. Jones Preserv. Bodie & Soule i. xxiv. 45 Apt to out breathe, and to *dischest the moistures, humors and iuyces of the body.1629Shirley Grateful Servant ii. i, Madam, here is Prince Lodwick Newly *discoached.1702C. Mather Magn. Christi vii. App. (1852) 600 To disturb and *disroost these mischievous rooks.d. To undo or spoil: as discomplexion.8. With adjectives, forming verbs in the sense of: To undo or reverse the quality expressed by the adjective; as disable, disabsolute, disgood, disnew.1640Quarles Enchirid. To Rdr., The variableness of those Men *disabsolutes all Rules, and limits all Examples.1647Ward Simp. Cobler 15 A dislocation, which so farre *disgoods the Ordinance, I feare it altogether unhallows it.9. With a substantive, forming a new substantive expressing the opposite, or denoting the lack or absence, of (the thing in question). Such are: disaffectation, disagglomeration, discare, discharity, discircumspection, disconcord, disgenius, dishealth, disindivisibility, disinvagination. Cf. also disease, dishonour, etc.1887Pall Mall G. 1 Aug. 12/1 A prince of plain speaking and *disaffectation.1870Contemp.Rev. XVI. 53 My remarks upon decentralization and *disagglomeration.1649J. H. Motion to Parl.Adv. Learn. 16 A grosse neglect, and ugly *dis-care of the Publick.a1868Ld. Brougham in Hinsdale Garfield & Educ. (1882) ii. 203 The parent of all evil..all discharity, all self-seeking.1671J. Davies Sibylls i. vi. 12 We meet with many instances of *dis-circumspection, weakness, and an excessive credulity.a1631Donne Serm. John v. 22 (1634) 10 Take the earth..in this concord, or this *disconcord.1657Reeve God's Plea 20 If he look not the better to it, this Genius will be *disgenius to him.1887Scot. Congregationalist Oct. 136 Though suffering from *dishealth, he was attentive to the sick.1799Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1800) III. 39 This indivisibility of yours turns out downright *disindivisibility.10. Prefixed to adjectives, with negative force; as dishonest, disalike, disanswerable, dispenal.1563–87Foxe A. & M. (1596) 328/1 They are not cleane contrary, but *disalike.1600Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 13 Nothing *disanswerable to expectation.1604Supplic. Masse Priests §2 Through the benefite of the *dispenall use or toleration of their Religion.¶ In Florio's Italian-Engl. Dictionary (esp. in ed. 1611), a large number of words in dis- are coined to render It. words in dis-, s-. Besides those elsewhere dealt with, the following occur:Disabound, disabondare; disapostled, disapostolato; disbolden, sbaldanzire; discourtiered, discortegianato; discrupper, sgroppare; diseclips, diseclissare; disfury, disfuriare; disgianted, disgigantito; disgreaten, disgrandire; disharnish, smagliare; dishumble, dishumiliare; disimplaster, disimpiastrare; disinpouerish, dispouerish, spouerire; dislanguish, dislanguidire; disobstinate, disostinare; dispearle, disperlare; dispoeted, spoetato; dispupill, spupillare; dispurpose n., disproposito; disruded, disuillanito; disuermillion, disuermigliare; disuigor, disuigorire; diswhiten, sbiancare; diswoman'd, sfeminato.
dis-
(assimilated as dif- before -f-, to di- before most voiced consonants), word-forming element meaning 1. "lack of, not" (as in dishonest); 2. "do the opposite of" (as in disallow); 3. "apart, away" (as in discard), from Old French des- or directly from Latin dis- "apart, in a different direction, between," figuratively "not, un-," also "exceedingly, utterly," from PIE *dis- "apart, asunder" (cognates: Old English te-, Old Saxon ti-, Old High German ze-, German zer-).The PIE root is a secondary form of *dwis- and thus is related to Latin bis "twice" (originally *dvis) and to duo, on notion of "two ways, in twain."In classical Latin, dis- paralelled de- and had much the same meaning, but in Late Latin dis- came to be the favored form and this passed into Old French as des-, the form used for new compound words formed in Old French, where it increasingly had a privative sense ("not").In English, many of these words eventually were altered back to dis-, while in French many have been altered back to de-. The usual confusion prevails.
dis-/dɪs/prefix.
ORIGIN: Repr. Old Frenchdes-, dis- (mod. dés-, dé-, dis-) or its source Latindis- ‘two ways, in two’, rel. to bis-, bi- (= Greekdis-, di-2), from Latinduo two, appearing before p, t, c, q, and s (see also di-1, dif-, dir-). Occas. repr. Late Latindis- for Latinde-de-1.
1.In words adopted from French and Latin with the sense ‘apart, away, asunder, abroad’, as discern, disperse, disquisition, dissident, distant, distinguish, distraction, etc.b. Occas. in words with the senses ‘between’ and ‘separate, singly’, as discept etc.
2.In words adopted from French and Latin with privative force, as disadvantage, disagree, disease, disgrace, displease, dissuade, etc. Also as a freely productive prefix with privative force (occas. replacing earlier mis-, as in dislike) forming (a) verbs from verbs (with their derivative nouns, adjectives, etc.) with the sense ‘reverse, undo’, as disestablish, disown, etc.;(b) verbs from nouns with the senses ‘strip of, free, rid of’, as disfrock, dispeople, etc., ‘deprive of the character, title, etc. of’, as disbishop, dischurch, etc., ‘expel from’, as disbar, disbench, etc., ‘undo, spoil’, as discomplexion;(c) verbs from adjectives with the sense ‘undo, reverse the quality denoted’, as disable etc.;(d) nouns from nouns with the sense ‘the absence or opposite of the state, quality, etc., in question’, as in dishonour etc.;(e) adjectives from adjectives with negative force, as dishonest etc.
3.In words adopted from French and Latin with intensive force ‘utterly’ with words already implying reversal or removal, as disannul, disturb, etc., and occas. in words formed in English after these, as disembowel, disgruntled, etc.
dis- ⇒ Main Entry: mis-
☞ di
dis- I. prefix Etymology: Middle English dis-, des-, from Old French & Latin; Old French des-, dis-, from Latin dis-, literally, apart, to pieces; akin to Old English te- apart, to pieces, Old High German zi-, ze-, Gothic dis- apart, Greek dia through, Albanian tsh- apart, Latin duo two — more at two 1. a.: do the opposite of : reverse (a specified action) < disjoin > < disestablish > < disown > < disqualify > b.: deprive of (a specified character, quality, or rank) < disable > < disprince > : deprive of (a specified object) < disfrock > c.: exclude or expel from < disbar > < discastle > 2.: opposite of : contrary of : absence of < disunion > < disaffection > 3.: not < dishonest > < disloyal > 4.: completely < disannul > 5.[by folk etymology]: dys- < disfunction > < distrophy > II. prefix Etymology: Middle French, from Medieval Latin, alteration (influenced by Greek dis- twice, double, from dis twice) of Latin di-, from Greek — more at bis, twi- 1.: di- 1 2.: di- 2 < disazo >
dis-
IPA: /dɪs/
Prefix
reversal or removal
disassociate
disarray
apart
disconnect
Used as an intensifier of words with negative valence.
disembowel
disannul
Etymology
From Middle English, from Old Frenchdes-, from Latindis-, from Proto-Indo-European*dwis.
Usage notes
When attached to a verbal root, prefixes often change the first vowel (whether initial or preceded by a consonant/consonant cluster) of that verb. These phonological changes took place in Latin and usually do not apply to words created (as in Modern Latin) from Latin components since Latin became a 'dead' language. Note: the combination of prefix and following vowel did not always yield the same change. (see examples below at con- + -a-) Also, these changes in vowels are not necessarily particular to being prefixed with dis- (i.e. other prefixes sometimes cause the same vowel change- see con-, ex-).