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DIS-: the Latin prefix meaning “apart, away”

DIS- comes from Latin and means “apart, away” or, in some words, “not, undoing”. You can see it in disaster, discern and discerning. WordPith uses it in 44 words.

Meaning
apart, away; also not, undoing
Origin
Latin
Type
Prefix
Word lists
Core Roots, GRE / GMAT, Law & Legal Latin, Medical Terms, SAT / ACT / PSAT, Spanish Cognates, TOEFL / IELTS

Words built from DIS-

DISASTER

disaster

A sudden great misfortune

Compare Spanish desastre. Italian disastro, an ill star.

DISCERN

discern

To make out a difference that is not obvious

Latin discernere, to separate apart. Certain, secret and crime sift by the same root.

DISCERNING

discerning

Good at telling the better from the worse

The same sifting, as a faculty.

DISCLOSE

disclose

To make known something that was hidden

Latin dis- plus claudere, to shut: the opposite of shutting.

DISCORD

discord

Disagreement: hearts apart. Spanish discordia

Compare Latin dis, apart. Music borrowed the word for notes that will not sit together.

DISCOUNT

discount

A reduction in price

Compare Spanish descuento.

DISCOURSE

discourse

Serious talk or writing on a subject

Latin discurrere, to run about — talk that ranges over its subject.

DISCOVER

discover

To find something not known before

Old French descovrir, to uncover.

DISCREDIT

discredit

To destroy confidence in something

Apart plus believe.

DISCREET

discreet

Careful about what you repeat

Discreet keeps a secret; discrete is separate. One Latin word, split in two in English.

DISCREPANCY

discrepancy

A difference where two things should agree

Latin discrepare, to sound differently — the figures rattle against each other.

DISCRETE

discrete

Separate and countable, not continuous

The other half of the same split. Mathematicians took this one.

DISCRETION

discretion

Judgement about what to do or say

Latin discretio, a separating: the power to tell cases apart.

DISCUSS

discuss

To talk something over

Compare Spanish discutir. Latin discutere, to shake apart — the sense shifted to examining.

DISDAIN

disdain

Scorn for something thought beneath you

Latin dedignari, to think unworthy. Deign is the same worth, granted.

DISGUST

disgust

Strong distaste

Compare Spanish disgusto. Latin gustus, taste.

DISLOCATION

dislocation

A joint forced out of place

Apart plus place.

DISMISS

dismiss

To send away, or to refuse to consider

Latin dimittere, to send apart.

DISPARAGE

disparage

To speak of something as worth less than it is

Old French desparagier, to marry below one’s rank.

DISPASSIONATE

dispassionate

Judging without feeling either way

Apart from suffering. Not the same as uninterested.

DISPEL

dispel

To drive away, of doubt or of a crowd

Latin dispellere, to drive apart.

DISPERSE

disperse

To scatter in all directions

Latin dispergere, to scatter apart.

DISPLACEMENT

displacement

Being moved from the usual position

The distance a thing has been put away from where it was.

DISPOSITION

disposition

A person’s usual temperament; or an arrangement

Latin disponere, to place apart — how the parts are set out.

DISPUTE

dispute

To argue about

Latin disputare, to reckon separately.

DISRUPT

disrupt

To break the normal course of something

Latin disrumpere, to break apart. Erupt and bankrupt break too.

DISSEMINATE

disseminate

To spread widely

Latin disseminare, to scatter seed. Seminar and semen are the same seed.

DISSENT

dissent

To feel, and say, otherwise

Latin dissentire, to feel apart. Sense, sentiment and consent all feel.

DISSOLVE

dissolve

To break up, or to disappear into liquid

Latin dissolvere, to loosen apart.

DISSONANCE

dissonance

A clash of sounds, or of beliefs

Latin dissonare, to sound apart. Cognitive dissonance borrowed the musical term in 1957.

DISSUADE

dissuade

To talk someone out of it

Latin dissuadere, to urge apart. Persuade urges through.

DISTORT

distort

To twist out of true

Latin distorquere.

INDISCREET

indiscreet

Saying what should have been kept quiet

Latin discernere, to separate apart, negated: failing to tell what to repeat from what not.

DISABUSE

disabuse

To free someone of a mistaken belief

To undo a misuse — of a fact, rather than a thing.

DISLOCATE

dislocate

To put out of place

Latin dislocare. A joint and an economy are dislocated by the same word.

DISREPUTABLE

disreputable

Of bad reputation

The same reckoning, gone the other way.

DISSEMBLE

dissemble

To hide your real feelings

Latin dissimulare, to make unlike. Resemble and assemble are the same seeming.

DISSIDENT

dissident

One who sits apart from the official line

Latin dissidere, to sit apart. Disagreement, pictured as where you put your chair.

DISSOLUTION

dissolution

A coming apart: of a partnership or a parliament

Latin dissolvere, to loosen asunder.

DISTEND

distend

To swell from within

Latin distendere, to stretch apart.

More words with DIS-: distraint, indispensable, discursive, disingenuous.

Quick check

1. Which word means: Strong distaste?

2. Which word means: To scatter in all directions?

3. Which word means: Separate and countable, not continuous?

Roots that pair with DIS-

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