disturb

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English destorben, also destourben and disturben,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French destorber, also destourber,^[2][3][5] and directly borrowed from Latin disturbō (“to throw into disorder”).^[5][6][4] Barnhart and Etymonline name the Old North French form distourber,^[6][5] and the Anglo-Norman verb desturber is recorded from the first third of the 12th century, already meaning to disturb, upset, hinder and deprive.^[7] The Latin verb is formed from dis- (“apart; utterly”) and turbō (“to disorder, disturb”), from turba (“tumult, turmoil, crowd”);^{[2][8][9][10]} Klein glosses it "to drive asunder, separate by violence, disturb, frustrate".^[3] The same Latin verb gave Old Occitan destorbar, Old Spanish destorbar, Spanish disturbar and Italian disturbare.^[2] Middle English also had distourblen, from destorbler.^[5] It is related to turbid and trouble.^[5][11][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To deprive someone of something, or drive them away from it, by interference: about 1230, in the Ancrene Riwle, a sense obsolete after 1667.^[2] Barnhart reads the Ancrene Riwle use as "to prevent, stop, hinder", and dates it probably before 1200.^[6]

Semantic evolution

By about 1290 the verb had its main modern senses: to break up the quiet or rest of a person or a country, and to interfere with the course of something, both in the South English Legendary.^[2] Barnhart dates "to stir up, agitate, trouble" to about 1300,^[6] and Etymonline gives "to frighten, alarm" in the late 13th century.^[5] The mental sense, to upset a person's calm, follows about 1305.^[2] Later extensions were physical: to throw something into agitation (1599) and to move something from its settled position (1664, in Evelyn).^[2] The reflexive use, to put oneself out for someone, appears in 1831, in Peacock.^[2] In law the verb meant to deprive a person of the peaceful enjoyment of a property, from 1541 to 1870.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it first as "to perplex; to disquiet; to deprive of tranquillity".^[12] Weekley notes that the French-derived destourb was later respelled after the Latin.^[13] A noun disturb, disturbance, was used from 1595 to 1667, last by Milton.^[2][14]

Timeline

• c. 1230 – to deprive of, drive away from (obsolete by 1667), in the Ancrene Riwle.^[2]
• c. 1290 – to break up the quiet or rest of; to interfere with, hinder.^[2]
• c. 1305 – to agitate mentally, trouble.^[2]
• 1541 – in law, to deprive of the peaceful possession of (to 1870).^[2]
• 1595 – noun, a disturbance (obsolete by 1667).^[2][14]
• 1599 – to throw into physical agitation.^[2]
• 1664 – to move from a settled position.^[2]
• 1831 – reflexive, to put oneself out.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To interrupt or intrude on someone, breaking their rest, work or concentration: Nobody disturbed him while he was writing.^[15][4][2]
2. To break the quiet or peace of a place or a state of things.^[15][2]
3. To move something from its place or order; to disarrange.^[15][2]
4. To upset or worry; to trouble the mind of: We were disturbed by the news from the hospital.^[15][2]
5. To inconvenience; reflexively, to put oneself out: Please don't disturb yourselves for us.^[15][2]
6. To interfere with the settled course of something; to hinder or interrupt.^[4][2]

Noun

1. (obsolete, 1595–1667) A disturbance.^[2][14][4]

Word family

• disturber
• disturbingly
• disturbance
• disturbing
• disturbed

Related words

• perturb
• turbine
• turbid
• trouble
• turbulent

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins