disrespect

Etymology

The verb is formed from English dis- + respect.^[2][3][4][5] The noun is formed from dis- and the noun respect, or perhaps from the verb.^[2][5] Respect comes, through French, from Latin respectus (“regard, a looking back”) and respiciō (“to look back at, regard”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a verb, to have or show no respect for: 1614, in George Wither's Satire to the King.^[2][4] The noun, lack of respect or reverence, follows in 1631, in William Gouge.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates the noun to 1621,^[4] Etymonline to the 1630s,^[3] and Dictionary.com the word to 1605–15.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century the noun could also mean a single act of disrespect (1632–1714);^[2][5] Johnson (1755) defined it as incivility or irreverence, "an act approaching to rudeness".^[7][2] The Century Dictionary (1895) called the verb chiefly colloquial.^[3] In the late 20th century the verb was shortened to diss, first recorded in 1980 in a rap song,^[2] and Collins and the Concise Oxford label the verb informal or chiefly North American.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 1614 – verb, to show no respect for.^[2][4]
• 1621 – noun, lack of respect, in Merriam-Webster.^[4]
• 1631 – noun, lack of respect, in the OED.^[2]
• 1632 – an act of disrespect (obsolete by 1714).^[2]
• 1755 – Johnson's definition, "incivility; want of reverence".^[7]
• 1980 – the shortened verb diss.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Lack of respect or courtesy; contempt or rudeness: He meant no disrespect to his teacher.^[8][4][2]
2. An act or remark that shows this.^[4][5]

Verb

1. To show a lack of respect for; to treat rudely or with contempt: The players felt the referee had disrespected them.^[8][4][2]

Word family

• disrespectful
• disrespectfully
• disrespectfulness

Related words

• respect
• diss

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ 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.
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press