dislodge

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English disloggen, also dislogen,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French deslogier, also desloger,^{[5][6][3][4][7][2]} the Anglo-Norman form recorded from 1194–99 in the senses "to decamp" and "to dislodge from a position".^[8] The French verb is formed from des-, expressing reversal, and logier (“to lodge, encamp”),^[5][6][7][3] from loge (“hut, shed”), of Germanic origin,^[6][3] the source of lodge.^[3][9] Its modern form is French déloger.^[9] Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives the source as Middle French.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

To drive enemies out of their position: about 1410, in Henry Lovelich's History of the Holy Grail, in a manuscript of before 1450.^[2][5] Barnhart dates the word probably to about 1408, in Lydgate,^[11][4] where the Middle English Dictionary has the sense of turning someone from his way;^[2] Etymonline gives about 1400.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Barnhart notes that the spelling with dg, spread by Caxton's printed books, was a way of showing the sound of g in page, especially in French words such as disloggen, as against the g of beg.^[4] In the 15th century the word was mostly military: Caxton used it in 1477 of moving a force to new quarters and in 1490 of leaving a camp, senses now obsolete.^[5] From 1520 it could mean simply to leave one's lodging; from 1579, in Spenser, it meant to remove anything from its place.^[5] Hunters used it from 1632 of driving an animal from its lair.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to remove from a place" and "to remove from an habitation".^[12] A noun dislodge, the act of dislodging, is recorded only in 1587.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1410 – to drive an enemy out of a position.^[2][5]
• 1477 – military, to move a force to new quarters (obsolete by 1672).^[5]
• 1490 – military, to leave a camp (obsolete by 1761).^[5]
• 1520 – intransitive, to leave one's lodging or place.^[5]
• 1579 – to remove something from a fixed position.^[5]
• 1632 – hunting, to drive an animal from its lair.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To force or knock something out of a fixed or settled position: The storm dislodged several tiles from the roof.^[13][10][5]
2. To drive an enemy or rival from a position, or force someone to give up an advantage: The challengers failed to dislodge the champion from first place.^[10][5]
3. To drive a person out of a dwelling, or a wild animal out of its lair or hiding place.^[10][5]
4. To leave a place where one has been lodged or fixed.^[13][5]

Word family

• dislodgement
• undislodged

Related words

• lodge
• lodgement
• lodging
• loge

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins