disinformation

Etymology

It is formed from English dis- + information,^[2][3][4] and most dictionaries take it as a translation of, or a formation on the pattern of, Russian дезинформация (dezinformatsiya).^{[5][6][4][3][7][1]} The OED records the Russian word from 1949, in S. I. Ozhegov's dictionary of Russian, where it was said to come from French, although French désinformation is not recorded before 1954;^[2][8] Dictionary.com derives the Russian noun from désinformer (“to misinform”) with a Russian suffix going back to Latin -ātiō.^[4] The OED leaves open whether the English word was formed in English or perhaps borrowed from Russian,^[2] and Merriam-Webster's “Book of Word Histories” notes that the English word is recorded in 1939, before the Soviet use it is said to translate, so that it may have arisen independently, as a noun to disinform beside misinform.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Deliberately false information spread to mislead: 1939, in an account of a German "Disinformation Service" that made fake military plans for foreign governments to steal, described by General Krivitsky.^[9][5] The OED's first quotation is from The Times of 3 June 1955,^[2] and Etymonline also dates the word to 1955.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Wiktionary notes an earlier use, from 1887, as a plain synonym of misinformation.^[1] The word came to be associated above all with the covert manipulation of public opinion attributed to the Soviet Union and the KGB: Dezinformatsiya is reported to have been the name of a KGB department formed in 1955 that fed false stories to foreign media and governments.^[9] The OED defines it as the spreading of deliberately false information, especially by a government or its agent to a foreign power or to the media, to influence the policies or opinions of those who receive it.^[2][8] It has been used attributively since 1967,^[2] and the verb disinform followed as a back-formation, recorded from 1978.^[10] More recently Wiktionary also records it for fabricated or manipulated content, such as deliberately created conspiracy theories and rumours.^[1]

Timeline

• 1887 – misinformation, as a simple synonym.^[1]
• 1939 – deliberately false information spread to mislead, of a German intelligence service.^[9][5] The OED's first quotation is from 1955.^[2]
• 1967 – attributive use.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. False information spread deliberately, and often covertly, to influence public opinion or hide the truth: The agency was accused of planting disinformation in foreign newspapers.^[5][11][1]
2. Misleading information announced or leaked by a government or an intelligence agency to influence opinion or the government of another country.^[12][2]
3. The spreading of such information.^[12][2][3]

Related words

• disinform
• information
• misinformation
• inform
• misinform
• dezinformatsiya

Usage notes

Etymonline quotes a 2020 New York Times article that draws the line between the two words: disinformation is a falsehood created to cause harm, while misinformation is also false but made or shared without the intention to deceive.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin