Etymologically
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dispareo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [dɪsˈpaː.re.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [disˈpaː.re.o][1]

Forms

dispāreō (present infinitive dispārēre, perfect active dispāruī, supine dispāritum); second conjugation[1] Medieval texts also write diss-.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin dis- + pāreō (“to appear”),[1][3] formed like compāreō.[3] It survives in Italian sparire and disparire and in French disparaître.[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cassiodorus has it in his commentary on the Psalms: the storm, at God's command, vanished into the air.[3][4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

It is a Late Latin word for vanishing from sight:[4] the Complexiones on Acts use it of Philip, who disappeared in an instant, and Jordanes of a hind that vanished once the land had appeared.[3] Gregory the Great says that the crowd of evil spirits vanished, and that the joy of the hypocrite appears for a moment but vanishes for ever.[3]

Medieval writers used it of a comet (Paul the Deacon), of failing sight and of a false prophet who was unmasked,[2] and also for “to cease”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus, of a storm that vanished.[3][4][6]
  • 787–799 – Paul the Deacon, of a comet.[2][6]
  • 1147 – The annals of Schäftlarn, of a false prophet.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To vanish, disappear.[3][4][5][2][7][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) To cease.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill