disadvantage

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English disavauntage, also desavauntage,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French desavantage,^{[3][6][5][7][8][2]} formed from des- (“not, the opposite of”) and avantage (“advantage, profit”),^[3][5][7] from avant (“before”), from Latin abante (“from before”).^[5] The revised OED takes the English word as formed from dis- and advantage after the Anglo-Norman desavauntage and Middle French desavantage.^[9] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from 1308–09.^[10] The modern spelling with d follows advantage, whose d was inserted under the influence of Latin ad-.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Loss, harm or damage to one's interests: before 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon.^[9][6][3]

Semantic evolution

From about 1425, in Lydgate's Troy Book, it also meant the lack of an advantage, an unfavourable position, especially in the phrase at a disadvantage;^[9][2] the sense of a particular circumstance that makes success harder, a handicap, is recorded from 1549 (Etymonline: the 1520s).^[9][3] The verb, to put at a disadvantage, followed in the 1530s or about 1550,^[3][4][9] and its participle disadvantaged was used from 1611;^[9][3] its sense "lacking social or economic opportunities" dates from 1893 in the OED and 1902 in Etymonline, and it was popularized by sociologists.^[9][3] Johnson (1755) gave "loss; injury to interest" and the lessening of credit, fame or honour.^[11]

Timeline

• a1387 – detriment, harm to one's interests.^[9][6]
• c. 1425 – an unfavourable position, also in at disadvantage.^[9][2]
• 1534 – verb, to put at a disadvantage (Merriam-Webster's date).^[4]
• 1549 – an unfavourable feature or circumstance, a handicap.^[9]
• c. 1550 – verb, in the OED.^[9]
• 1567 – to disadvantage, so as to show something unfavourably.^[9]
• 1611 – disadvantaged, placed at a disadvantage.^[9][3]
• 1893 – disadvantaged, socially or economically deprived.^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A circumstance or feature that makes success harder; a drawback or handicap: The small engine is the main disadvantage of this model.
2. An unfavourable position, especially in at a disadvantage: Without a map, the visitors were at a disadvantage.
3. Loss, harm or damage, especially in to someone's disadvantage.

Verb

1. To put at a disadvantage; to affect unfavourably.

Word family

• disadvantageous

Related words

• advantage
• vantage

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.