Adjacent Words

dis- definitions

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Merriam Webster's

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>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

prefix forming nouns, adjectives, and verbs: 1 expressing negation (dishonest). 2 indicating reversal or absence of an action or state (disengage; disbelieve). 3 indicating removal of a thing or quality (dismember; disable). 4 indicating separation (distinguish; dispose). 5 indicating completeness or intensification of the action (disembowel; disgruntled). 6 indicating expulsion from (disbar). Etymology: L dis-, sometimes through OF des-

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dis- Dis- (?; 258) . 1. A prefix from the Latin, whence F. d['e]s, or sometimes d['e]-, dis-. The Latin dis-appears as di-before b, d, g, l, m, n, r, v, becomes dif-before f, and either dis-or di- before j. It is from the same root as bis twice, and duo, E. two. See Two, and cf. Bi-, Di-, Dia-. Dis-denotes separation, a parting from, as in distribute, disconnect; hence it often has the force of a privative and negative, as in disarm, disoblige, disagree. Also intensive, as in dissever. Note: Walker's rule of pronouncing this prefix is, that the s ought always to be pronounced like z, when the next syllable is accented and begins with ``a flat mute [b, d, v, g, z], a liquid [l, m, n, r], or a vowel; as, disable, disease, disorder, disuse, disband, disdain, disgrace, disvalue, disjoin, dislike, dislodge, dismay, dismember, dismiss, dismount, disnatured, disrank, disrelish, disrobe.'' Dr. Webster's example in disapproving of Walker's rule and pronouncing dis-as diz in only one (disease) of the above words, is followed by recent ortho["e]pists. See Disable, Disgrace, and the other words, beginning with dis-, in this Dictionary. 2. A prefix from Gr. di`s- twice. See Di-.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Dis- is added to some words that describe processes, qualities, or states, in order to form words describing the opposite processes, qualities, or states. For example, if you do not agree with someone, you disagree with them; if one thing is not similar to something else, it is dissimilar to it. PREFIX