dis- - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

• di-, dif-, dir-

From Middle English dis-, borrowed from Latin dis-, from Proto-Indo-European *dwís. Piecewise doublet of bis-; further related to bi-, di-, and twi-.

Often confused with the separately inherited prefix dys-.

• enPR: dĭs′-
• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada, General Australian, Scotland, India) IPA(key): /ˌdɪs-/
• (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˌdəs-/
• Rhymes: -ɪs
• Homophones: dis, diss, dys-
• Hyphenation: dis-

dis-

1. Not, the reverse of. (Especially forming words with a negative connotation)
   Synonyms: un-, non-, de-, in-, an-, a-
   ‎dis- + ‎_agree_ → ‎_disagree_
   ‎dis- + ‎_connect_ → ‎_disconnect_
   ‎dis- + ‎_satisfied_ → ‎_dissatisfied_
   ‎dis- + ‎_interested_ → ‎_disinterested_
   ‎dis- + ‎_honour_ → ‎_dishonour_
2. Expressing separation or removal.
   ‎dis- + ‎_card_ → ‎_discard_ (“to throw out a card”)
   ‎dis- + ‎_bar_ → ‎_disbar_ (“to expel from the bar”)
   ‎dis- + ‎_franchise_ → ‎_disfranchise_ (“to remove one's franchise, to prevent from voting”)
3. Used as an intensifier.
   ‎dis- + ‎_embowel_ → ‎_disembowel_
   ‎dis- + ‎_annul_ → ‎_disannul_ (“to annul”)
4. Alternative form of dys- (“incorrect”).
   ‎dis- + ‎_function_ → ‎_disfunction_

• 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 New 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. 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-).

NOTE: Words using the prefix dis- do not necessarily use the prefixes given here when translated. See individual words for more accurate translations.

reversal or removal

• Armenian: ապ- (ap-)
• Catalan: des- (ca)
• French: dé- (fr)
• Galician: des- (gl)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: ent- (de)
• Greek: απο- (el) (apo-)
• Hungarian: el- (hu), le- (hu), ki- (hu)
• Ido: des-
• Indonesian: dis-
• Malay: nyah- (ms)
• Middle English: dis-, de-
• Polish: de- (pl), dez-, roz- (pl), od- (pl)
• Portuguese: des- (pt), dis- (pt)
• Russian: без(ъ)- (ru) (bez(ʺ)-), бес(ъ)- (ru) (bes(ʺ)-), не- (ru) (ne-), дис- (ru) (dis-), де- (ru) (de-)
• Scottish Gaelic: di-, eas-
• Spanish: des- (es), dis- (es)

apart

• Dutch: ont- (nl)

• French: dé- (fr)

• Georgian: please add this translation if you can

• German: ent- (de)

• Greek: απο- (el) (apo-)

• Hungarian: szét- (hu)

• Ido: dis-

• Indonesian: dis-

• Polish: de- (pl), dez-, roz- (pl), od- (pl)

• Russian: от(ъ)- (ru) (ot(ʺ)-), с(ъ)- (ru) (s(ʺ)-)

• anti-

• contra-

• counter-

• mal-

• mis-

• ob-

• para-

• dys-

• “dis-”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “dis-”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• IDs, SDI, sid, I-Ds, ISD, DSI, IDS, ids, sid', Sid, SID, I.D.s

• IPA(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [dis]

• Hyphenation: dis-

Borrowed from Ancient Greek δῠσ- (dŭs-).

dis-

1. dys- (bad)
   ‎dis- + ‎_-fàsia_ (“-phasia”) → ‎_disfàsia_ (“dysphasia”)

Borrowed from Latin dis-. Compare the inherited des-.

dis-

1. indicates negation
   ‎dis- + ‎_sort_ (“luck”) → ‎_dissort_ (“misfortune”)

• “dis-”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “dis-”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “dis-” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

Presumably from di- with epenthetic s, possibly influenced by Latin dis-. Compare Welsh dis-.

dis-

1. un-, non-, -less
   Synonyms: an-, heb, di-, on-
   ‎dis- + ‎_gul_ (“to do”) → ‎_diswul_ (“to undo”)

Derived from Latin dis-.

dis-

1. dis-

Category Danish terms prefixed with dis- not found

• a-

• dys-

• in-

• u-

• “dis-” in Den Danske Ordbog

Ultimately from Latin dis-.

• IPA(key): /dɪs-/
• Hyphenation: dis-

dis-

1. dis-

Borrowed from Latin dis-.

• IPA(key): /dis-/
• Syllabification: dis-
• Hyphenation: dis-

dis-

1. shows separation, dissemination
   ‎dis- + ‎_semi_ (“to sow”) → ‎_dissemi_ (“to disseminate”)
   ‎dis- + ‎_ŝiri_ (“to tear”) → ‎_disŝiri_ (“to tear to pieces”)

• “dis”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “dis-”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

Borrowed from Latin dis-. Compare the inherited dé-.

• IPA(key): /dis/
• Hyphenation: dis-

dis-

1. dis-

From Latin dis-, from Proto-Indo-European *dwís. See also s-.

dis-

1. dis-
   ‎dis- + ‎_sglonfâ_ (“to inflate”) → ‎_disglonfâ_ (“to deflate”)
   ‎dis- + ‎_florî_ (“to bloom”) → ‎_disflorî_ (“to wither”)
2. as intensifier
   ‎dis- + ‎_sfidâ_ (“to challenge”) → ‎_disfidâ_ (“to compete”)
   ‎dis- + ‎_scuvierzi_ (“to discover, to uncover”) → ‎_discuvierzi_ (“to find out, to unveil”)

• di-, dif-, dir-

Learned borrowing from Latin dis-.

• IPA(key): [dɪs-]
• Hyphenation: dis-

dis-

1. dis-
   Synonyms: un-, zer-
   ‎dis- + ‎_Harmonie_ (“harmony”) → ‎_Disharmonie_ (“disharmony”)
   ‎dis- + ‎_harmonisch_ (“harmonious”) → ‎_disharmonisch_ (“disharmonious”)

• “dis-”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎[1] (in German)
• “dis-” in Duden online

dis-

1. romanization of 𐌳𐌹𐍃-

Borrowed from Esperanto dis-, Latin dis-, Ancient Greek δῐ́ς (dĭ́s), English dis-, French dis-, German dis-, Italian dis-, Russian дис- (dis-), Spanish dis-; all from Proto-Indo-European *dwís (“twice”), from *dwóh₁ (“two”).

• IPA(key): /dis/
• Hyphenation: dis-

dis-

1. shows separation or dissemination

From Dutch dis-, from Latin dis-, from Proto-Indo-European *dwís.

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA(key): /dis/ [dɪs]
• Syllabification: dis-

dis-

1. dis- (reversal, removal; apart)

• “dis-”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

dis-

1. alternative form of dios-

Mutated forms of dis-

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Inherited from Latin dis-, from Proto-Indo-European *dwís. See also s-.

• IPA(key): /ˌdis/, (before vowels and voiced consonants) /ˌdiz/
• Hyphenation: dìs-

dis-

1. dis-
   ‎dis- + ‎_fare_ (“do”) → ‎_disfare_ (“undo”)
   ‎dis- + ‎_organizzare_ (“organize”) → ‎_disorganizzare_ (“disorganize”)

• in-

• s-

• dis- in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication

• dī-, dif- (see usage notes)

Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁

Latin dis-

Inherited from Proto-Italic *dis-,[1] from Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- (“in two, apart”), ultimate details are disputed.

The loss of the *w is also found in all descendants of Proto-Germanic *t(w)iz-,[2][3][4] with the exception of the uncommon Gothic 𐍄𐍅𐌹𐍃- (twis-), interestingly largely displaced by the likely Latin-influenced Gothic 𐌳𐌹𐍃- (dis-). It is not evident whether the _*w_-less form associated with the meaning “apart” is to be dated as late as Italic and Germanic or back to Proto-Indo-European.[5] Some have attributed the loss of *w to dissimilation when prefixed to verbs starting in *w-, e.g. dīvidō, dīvertō, then regularised to the other cases.[1]

The meaning of the prefix in the formation difficilis (“difficult”) from facilis (“easy”) cannot be immediately parsed as “apart”. It has been explained as built on the example of similis : dissimilis, which in turn arose as the opposition of consimilis, in the example of common pairs like distrahō : contrahō, etc.[6] Alternatively it has also been analysed as an initially independent but later conflated prefixation with Proto-Indo-European *dus- (“bad”),[7][1] which itself possibly ultimately shares the same root and semantic development. Compare also displiceō : placeō, as well as its use in Romance descendants.[3]

The presence of the prefix in Umbrian disleralinsust, of unclear meaning, is disputed.[3][8][1]

• (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [dɪs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [dis]
• Hyphenation: dis-

dis-

1. asunder, apart, in two
   dīmittō ― dismiss, disband
   discēdō ― part, separate
2. reversal, removal
   dissimulō ― disguise, conceal
3. utterly, exceedingly
   differtus ― stuffed full

• Before b, d, g, l, m, n, r, and v, the prefix becomes dī-.

• Before a consonantal i (j), the prefix may become dī- or remain as dis-.

• Before f, the prefix becomes dif-.

• Before sc, sp, st, the prefix becomes di-.

• Before a vowel or h, the prefix becomes dir- in the two verbs diribeō and dirimō, which arose early enough to be subject to rhotacism, but from Classical Latin onwards, dis- is used (see, for example, dishiascō in Cato).

• bis

• duo

• Catalan: des-; → dis-

• → English: dis-

  • ⇒ English: disrespect, disparage
    * ⇒ English: diss
    * → Chinese: diss
    * → Dutch: diss, dissen
    * → German: dissen
    * → Polish: diss
    * → Swedish: diss

• → Esperanto: dis-

• Franco-Provençal: dè-

• French: dé-, dés-; → dis-

• Friulian: dis-

• → Gothic: 𐌳𐌹𐍃- (dis-)

• Italian: dis-, s-

• Norman: des-

• Occitan: des-

• Portuguese: des-; → dis-

• Romanian: des-, dez-

• Sicilian: sdi-, s-

• Spanish: des-; → dis-

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “dis-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 171
2. ^ Walde & Hofmann LEW, vol. 1, pages 354f.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ernout & Meillet (2001), page 176a: “dis-”
4. ^ Pokorny (1959), page 232: “dis-”
5. ^ Sihler (1995), §389.2Ab page 409
6. ^ Forssman (1992), §38.a page 309
7. ^ Leumann (1977), §339.2 page 400
8. ^ Untermann (2000), pages 180f.: “disleralinsust”

• “dis-”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• des-, dys-

Borrowed from Old French des- and its source Latin dis-.

• IPA(key): /dis-/, /dɛs-/
• Hyphenation: dis-

dis-

1. Forms words denoting reversal or removal; dis-, de-.
   Synonym: de-
2. Intensifies words with a negative connotation; dis-, de-.
   Synonym: de-

• Sometimes used interchangeably with de-; see that entry for more.

• English: dis- (obsolete des-)

• “des-, pref.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

• “dis-, pref.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

• (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒis/

• (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒis/

  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒiʃ/

	This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some! Particularly: “(Portugal)”

• Hyphenation: dis-

Borrowed from Latin dis-. Compare the inherited des-.

dis-

1. dis- (indicates separation)

Borrowed from New Latin dys-, from Ancient Greek δυσ- (dus-, “bad, hard”).

• dys- (obsolete)

dis-

1. (medicine) dys- (forms the names of conditions characterised by difficult or inadequate function)
2. dys- (bad or wrong)

• “dis-”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “dis-”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from Latin dis-. Compare the inherited des-.

• IPA(key): /dis/ [d̪is]
• Syllabification: dis-

dis-

1. dis-

• “dis-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• IPA(key): /dɪs-/
• Hyphenation: dis-

dis-

1. intensifying prefix
   ‎dis- + ‎_taw_ (“quiet, silent”) → ‎_distaw_ (“silent, noiseless”)
   ‎dis- + ‎_pwyll_ (“consideration”) → ‎_disbwyll_ (“discretion, prudence”)
2. negative prefix
   Synonyms: af-, an-, di-
   ‎dis- + ‎_cloff_ (“lame”) → ‎_disgloff_ (“sure footed, agile”)