Where does “disperse” come from?
Disperse comes from French disperser, from Latin dispersus, the past participle of dispergere meaning to scatter or spread apart, from dis- meaning apart and pergere meaning to drive or push forward.
disperse (English): To scatter in different directions; To break up...
Definitions
- To scatter in different directions; To break up...
Ancestry of “disperse”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | dispersioun | — |
| 2 | Old French | dispersion | — |
| 3 | Latin | dispertio | I divide; I distribute; I assign |
| 4 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 5 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 6 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |