disappearance

Etymology

It is formed from disappear and -ance, on the model of appearance.^[2][3][4] The verb is from dis- and appear, after Anglo-Norman desaparer (13th century).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act or fact of disappearing, of vanishing from sight: the OED's first example is from William Lisle's translation of Du Bartas, 1625.^[2] Etymonline dates the noun to 1712, and Dictionary.com to 1705–15.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word kept its general sense, "a ceasing to be seen or to exist".^[3][2] Merriam-Webster also records it for the running down of national or world stocks of a commodity such as cotton or wheat.^[5] From 1971 it was used of the abduction or arrest of a person, often for political reasons, who is then imprisoned or killed in secret,^[2] a use that goes with the verb disappear in the same sense, which arose chiefly after American Spanish desaparecido.^[2]

Timeline

• 1625 – the act of vanishing.^[2]
• 1712 – Etymonline's date.^[3]
• 1971 – the secret abduction or killing of a person.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act or fact of vanishing or ceasing to be seen: the disappearance of the sun behind the hills.
2. The fact of a person going missing: Police are investigating the man's disappearance.
3. The ceasing to exist of something: the disappearance of the old trades.
4. The abduction or arrest of a person, especially for political reasons, whose fate is then kept secret.
5. (economics) The using up or reduction of stocks of a commodity.

Related words

• vanish
• evanescence

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster