dispose

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English disposen,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French disposer (“to arrange, order, regulate”),^[5][3][4][6] formed from dis- and poser (“to place”).^[5][7][8] It took the place of despondre, the inherited form of Latin dispōnō (“to put in order, arrange”),^[5][4] under the influence of poser and of the Latin past participle dispositus.^{[5][6][9][10]} The Latin verb is formed from dis- (“apart”) and pōnō (“to put, place”),^[3][4][10] the source of position.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To incline the mind or heart of someone: about 1340, in Richard Rolle's prose treatises.^[5] Barnhart's first record, disposen "to tend toward", is from 1373,^[4] and the MED's first quotation, for arranging, is from Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon (before 1387).^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the verb already meant to arrange or place things in order, to prepare, and to give a tendency or inclination, as in the past participle disposed.^[5][3][2] In Chaucer it meant to arrange, prepare, regulate or decide, and to be inclined.^[11] Several senses of managing and bestowing died out between the 16th and 19th centuries.^[5][6] The proverb Man proposes, God disposes, in which dispose means to settle the course of events, translates the Latin of Thomas à Kempis.^[12][6] With of the verb first meant to control or deal with something (mid 16th century), and then, from the early 17th century, to get rid of it;^[6][7] Hoad dates "put away, get rid of" to the 16th century.^[7] A noun dispose, meaning disposal or disposition, was used from the late 16th to the 18th century;^[5][6][9] Shakespeare used it for a person's manner in Othello.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1340 – to incline the mind or heart.^[5]
• c. 1375 – to make fit or ready, to prepare.^[5]
• before 1387 – to arrange, to place in order.^[5][2]
• 1398 – to regulate, govern (obsolete by 1676).^[5]
• 1591 – noun, bestowal; later disposal, control (obsolete).^[5]
• early 17th century – dispose of, to get rid of.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. dispose of: to get rid of, throw away, or transfer something to another, as by selling: They disposed of the old furniture at auction.^[13][6]
2. dispose of: to deal with or settle a matter; informally, to kill.^[13][6]
3. To make someone willing or inclined to do something: Long hours had not disposed her to patience.^[13][9][5]
4. To give a tendency to something, to make it liable: Damp weather disposes the timber to rot.^[9][5]
5. To place or arrange in a particular order or position.^[13][9][6]
6. To settle the course of events: Man proposes, God disposes.^[13][6][12]

Noun

1. (obsolete) Disposal, or the power to dispose of something.^[9][5][13]
2. (obsolete) Disposition; manner or bearing.^[9][5][6]

Word family

• disposer
• disposingly
• disposable
• redispose
• disposal

Related words

• disposition
• dispone
• pose
• position
• compose
• repose

References

1. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f 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 r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
12. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins