dis-

Meaning

1. morphemeasunder, apart, in two
   dīmittōdismiss, disband
   discēdōpart, separate
2. morphemereversal, removal
   dissimulōdisguise, conceal
3. morphemeutterly, exceedingly
   differtusstuffed full

Origins

1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
2. Latindis-

Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Inherited from Proto-Italic *dis-, from Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- (“in two, apart”), ultimate details are disputed. The loss of the *w is also found in all descendants of Proto-Germanic *t(w)iz-, with the exception of the uncommon Gothic 𐍄𐍅𐌹𐍃- (twis-), interestingly largely displaced by the likely Latin-influenced Gothic 𐌳𐌹𐍃- (dis-). It is not evident whether the *w-less form associated with the meaning “apart” is to be dated as late as Italic and Germanic or back to Proto-Indo-European. Some have attributed the loss of *w to dissimilation when prefixed to verbs starting in *w-, e.g. dīvidō, dīvertō, then regularised to the other cases. The meaning of the prefix in the formation difficilis (“difficult”) from facilis (“easy”) cannot be immediately parsed as “apart”. It has been explained as built on the example of similis : dissimilis, which in turn arose as the opposition of consimilis, in the example of common pairs like distrahō : contrahō, etc. Alternatively it has also been analysed as an initially independent but later conflated prefixation with Proto-Indo-European *dus- (“bad”), which itself possibly ultimately shares the same root and semantic development. Compare also displiceō : placeō, as well as its use in Romance descendants. The presence of the prefix in Umbrian disleralinsust, of unclear meaning, is disputed.