Etymologically
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dispose

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /dɪˈspəʊz/[1]
  • US: /dɪsˈpoʊz/[1]

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

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