disposition

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English disposicioun,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French disposicion^[5][6] and directly borrowed from Latin dispositiō (“arrangement, management”),^[5][4][7][8] a noun of action from dispositus, the past participle of dispōnō (“to place here and there, set in order, arrange”),^[8][3][5][2] formed from dis- (“apart”) and pōnō (“to put, place”).^[8][9] The OED notes that the noun is not formed from dispose, but was linked with it early in Old French, where -poser came to stand for the Latin verbs in -pōnō.^[6][7] In Anglo-Norman, dispositiun is recorded from the 13th century, already meaning both arrangement and attitude of mind.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ordering, control or management, and the power to dispose of something, as in at one's disposition: the OED's first quotations for both senses are from Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde (about 1374).^[6] Etymonline gives "ordering, management, a setting in order" and also "tendency of mind" from the late 14th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The sense "frame of mind, temperament, natural tendency" came, according to Etymonline, from the astrological use of the word for the position of a planet as an influence on a person,^[5] a sense Chaucer also has.^[5][6] The Wycliffite Bible (before 1382) used it for an arrangement made for a purpose, a plan,^[6][4] and Gower (1393) for the act of disposing of or bestowing something,^[6] a sense later shared with disposal.^[6][7] The general sense "arrangement, order" is recorded from 1563, with special uses in rhetoric (1509), architecture (1624) and military language, of troops arranged for an operation (1600).^[6] Johnson (1755) gave "order; method; distribution" as the first sense.^[11] In law the word is used for the transfer of property by deed or will,^[6][7] and in philosophy for a property that consists in a tendency to change under certain conditions, such as brittleness.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1374 – ordering, control; power of disposing, in Chaucer.^[6]
• before 1382 – arrangement for a purpose; plan.^[6]
• 1393 – the act of disposing of, bestowal.^[6]
• late 14th century – temperament, frame of mind.^[5]
• 1509 – rhetoric, the arrangement of the parts of an argument.^[6]
• 1563 – arrangement, order.^[6]
• 1600 – military, the arrangement of troops.^[6]
• 1624 – architecture, the arrangement of the parts of a building.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person's usual mood or temperament: a sunny disposition.^[12][3][13]
2. A natural or acquired tendency or inclination: a disposition to argue.^[12][13]
3. The arrangement or placing of things, such as troops.^[13][6]
4. The act of disposing of something, or a transfer of property to another, as by will.^[13][12][6]
5. The power to control or decide about something.^[13][6]
6. A final settlement of a matter, as of a court case.^[13]
7. In philosophy, a property that consists in a tendency to change in a certain way under certain conditions.^[12]

Word family

• dispositional
• redisposition

Related words

• disposal
• dispose
• dispositive
• predisposition
• position

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c 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)
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin