disparate

English

WOTD – 2 July 2006

Etymology

From Latin disparātus, past participle of disparāre (“to divide”), from dis- (“apart”) + parāre (“to make equal”), from par (“equal”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪsp(ə)ɹət/, ˈdɪsp(ə)ɹɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪsp(ə)ɹət/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /dɪˈspɛɹət/
• (US) IPA^(key): /dɪˈspæɹət/

Adjective

disparate (comparative more disparate, superlative most disparate)

1. Composed of inherently different or distinct elements; incongruous.

   The board of the company was decidedly disparate – no two members from the same social or economic background.

2. Essentially different; of different species, unlike but not opposed in pairs; also, less properly, utterly unlike; incapable of being compared; having no common genus.
   • 1898, John Wesley Powell, Truth and Error:

     Then disparate sense impressions come to disparate organs, as light to the eye, taste to the mouth, etc.

   • 1912, Bertrand Russel, The Philosophy of Bergson:

     M. Bergson’s philosophy, unlike most of the systems of the past, is dualistic: the world, for him, is divided into two disparate portions, on the one hand life, on the other matter, or rather that inert something which the intellect views as matter.

Synonyms

• (composed of distinct elements): incongruous, mismatched, uncoordinated
• (markedly different): different, dissimilar, unalike

Translations

composed of inherently different elements

• Bulgarian: несравним (bg) (nesravnim), несъизмерим (bg) (nesǎizmerim)
• Dutch: duidelijk verschillend
• Finnish: toisenlainen (fi)
• French: disparate (fr)
• Georgian: განსხვავებული (gansxvavebuli)

• German: disparat (de), verschieden (de), ungleich (de), ungleichartig
• Russian: несравнимый (nesravnimyj), несоизмеримый (ru) (nesoizmerimyj)
• Spanish: dispar (es) m, f, heterogéneo (es) m, variado m
• Turkish: apayrı (tr), bambaşka (tr), farklı (tr), kıyaslanmaz

Related terms

• dispair
• disparately
• disparateness
• disparity

External links

• disparate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• disparate in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Noun

disparate (plural disparates)

1. (chiefly in the plural) Any of a group of unequal or dissimilar things.

Anagrams

• aspirated

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French

Etymology

Latin disparatus, past participle of disparare ‘to divide’, from dis- ‘apart’ + parare ‘prepare’.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dispaʀat/

Adjective

disparate (masculine and feminine, plural disparates)

1. disparate; incongruous

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Italian

Adjective

disparate f

1. Feminine plural form of disparato

Anagrams

• derapasti
• disperata

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Latin

Verb

disparāte

1. first-person plural present active imperative of disparō

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Spanish

Noun

disparate m (plural disparates)

1. nonsense (meaningless words or actions)
2. Great amount; a lot.
3. crazy idea