disband

English

Etymology

1590s, from Middle French desbander (Modern French débander), from des- (English dis-) + bande (English band),[1] ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (to tie). Surface analysis dis- + band.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /dɪsˈbænd/
  • Rhymes: -ænd

Verb

disband (third-person singular simple present disbands, present participle disbanding, simple past and past participle disbanded)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To break up or (cause to) cease to exist; to disperse.
    The president wanted to disband the scandal-plagued agency.
    I used to be in a punk band, but we disbanded in the early 1980s.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Knolles
      They disbanded themselves and returned, every man to his own dwelling.
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To loose the bands of; to set free.
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To divorce.
    • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton
      And therefore [] she ought to be disbanded.

Translations

References

  1. disband” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.

Anagrams

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