Etymology and origin of the Latin word disparitas
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 354–430 Augustine More words from the 4th century
- Ultimate origin
- Latin pār
Etymology tree
From the same root
Forms
disparitās f (genitive disparitātis); third declension[1]
Etymology
It is formed from Latin dispār (“unequal, unlike”) + -tās.[2][3] Etymonline instead analyses it as dis- with pāritās.[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
The TLL has it in the Breviarium fidei against the Arians and in Augustine's On Free Choice of the Will,[2] meaning “difference, diversity”.[2][3]
Semantic evolution
It remained rare in Late Latin.[2] Medieval authors used it for inequality and dissimilarity in general, for irregularity and for contradiction;[5] Albertus Magnus discusses the disparitas cultus, difference of religion between spouses.[5] In British sources it means disparity or inequality.[6] English disparity came through French in the 1550s.[4]
Timeline
- 354–430 AD – Augustine says that spiritual creatures can be separated by difference.[2][3]
- c. 830 – Einhard's account of Marcellinus and Peter uses it of a difference of voices and words.[5][3]
- 2nd half of the 12th century – Alan of Lille uses it.[3]
- 1550s – English disparity is borrowed through French.[4]
Meanings
Noun
- (Late Latin) Difference, diversity.[2][7]
- (Medieval Latin) Inequality, dissimilarity, disparity.[5][6][8]
- (Medieval Latin) Irregularity; contradiction.[5]
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
- ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
- ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry
“Disparitas.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/disparitas. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.
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