Etymologically
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disagreement

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 00:40. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /dɪsəˈɡɹiːmənt/[1]
  • US: /ˌdɪsəˈɡɹimənt/[1]

Etymology

Etymonline and Merriam-Webster form it from English disagree + -ment;[2][3] the Shorter Oxford derives it from the verb after agreement.[4] The OED, revised in 2017, takes it as dis- plus agreement, after the verb and, in its first sense, after Anglo-Norman desagrément (“refusal to assent”),[5] which the Anglo-Norman Dictionary records from 1389–90.[6] Dictionary.com derives it from the Anglo-French and Middle French word.[7] The OED compares French désagrément (“annoyance”), recorded from before 1642.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The refusal to agree or to give one's assent: 1495, in the Rolls of Parliament;[5] Etymonline also dates this sense to the late 15th century.[2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, refusing assent, lasted until the 19th century (1495–1886).[5] The modern sense of a difference of opinion is recorded from 1501, in a letter of Henry VII,[5] and quarrel or dissension from 1548;[5] Etymonline dates these to the 1570s and 1580s, and suggests that the later senses were formed anew from dis- and agreement.[2] From 1551 the word also meant a lack of correspondence or consistency between things, later used in grammar for a failure of agreement in number, gender or case.[5] An obsolete sense was the unsuitability of a food or climate to a person's constitution (1580–1898).[5][2] Johnson (1755) listed "difference; dissimilitude" before "difference of opinion".[8]

Timeline

  • 1495 – refusal to assent (obsolete by 1886).[5]
  • 1501 – difference of opinion.[5]
  • 1548 – discord, a quarrel.[5]
  • 1551 – lack of correspondence, discrepancy.[5]
  • 1580 – unsuitability of food or climate (obsolete by 1898).[5]
  • 1778 – an unpleasantness (rare, obsolete).[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Failure or refusal to agree; a difference of opinion: There was some disagreement about the budget.[9][3][5]
  2. An argument or quarrel.[9][5]
  3. A lack of correspondence or consistency; a discrepancy: a disagreement between the two accounts.[9][3][5]
  4. In grammar, a failure of words to agree in number, gender or case.[5]
  5. (obsolete, 1580–1898) Unsuitability of a food or climate to a person's constitution.[5][4]

Word family

  • nondisagreement
  • predisagreement

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins