Etymologically
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disproportionate

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 22:33. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /dɪs.pɹəˈpɔː.ʃə.nət/, /dɪs.pɹəˈpɔː.ʃə.neɪt/[1]
  • US: /ˌdɪs.pɹəˈpɔɹ.ʃə.nət/, /ˌdɪs.pɹəˈpɔɹ.ʃə.neɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English dis- + proportionate,[2][3][4][5][6] probably on the pattern of Middle French disproportionné, recorded from 1534.[4][7][8][2] proportionate is from Medieval Latin proportionatus (“proportioned”), from Latin prōportiō (“proportion”).[2][3] The noun disproportion is recorded from the same year, perhaps after disproportion (1549),[4] and the synonym improportionate from the late 14th century.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Out of proportion, lacking due proportion: 1555, in Richard Eden's translation of Peter Martyr's Decades.[2][4][5] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1544–55.[6]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined it as "unsymmetrical; unsuitable to something else either in bulk or value".[9] It is often followed by to, and the sense "relatively too large or too small" is now the usual one.[2][8][10] In the 20th century chemistry formed a verb disproportionate, "to undergo disproportionation", first recorded in 1934 in Webster's New International Dictionary; the OED takes it as a back-formation from disproportionated, and the Shorter Oxford from disproportionation.[2][8]

Timeline

  • 1555 – out of proportion; unsymmetrical.[2][4][5]
  • 1934 – chemistry, verb, to undergo disproportionation.[2][8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Too large or too small in comparison with something else; out of proportion: The fine was disproportionate to the offence.[10][5][8][2]
  2. Badly proportioned; unsymmetrical.[5][2][9]

Verb

  1. (chemistry) To undergo, or cause to undergo, disproportionation.[10][5][2]

Word family

  • disproportionately
  • disproportionateness

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins