disparate

See also: dispárate

English

WOTD – 2 July 2006

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French desparat, from Latin disparātus, past participle of disparō (“to divide”), from dis- (“apart”) + parō (“to make equal”), from par (“equal”).

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: (US) -æɹət, (US) -ɛɹət

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, with no two members from the same social or economic background.

   • 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 269:

     The London Transport Museum was established, from disparate collections, at Covent Garden in 1980.

   • 2023 February 8, Tony Streeter, “Kirkdale: home to Merseyrail's new '777s'”, in RAIL, number 976, page 36:

     Although third-rail operation in the region dates back more than a century, it was in the 1970s that tunnels under Liverpool's city centre opened to bring together previously disparate routes.

2. Essentially different; of different species, unlike but not opposed in pairs
3. Utterly unlike; incapable of being compared; having no common ground.
   • 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 Russell, 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
• (incapable of being compared): incommensurable

Related terms

• dispair
• disparately
• disparateness
• disparity

Translations

composed of inherently different elements

• Bulgarian: несравним (bg) (nesravnim), несъизмерим (bg) (nesǎizmerim)
• Czech: nesourodý
• Danish: uensartet, uhomogen
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} duidelijk verschillend , onsamenhangend (nl)
• Finnish: toisenlainen (fi), hajanainen (fi)
• French: disparate (fr)
• Georgian: განსხვავებული (gansxvavebuli)
• German: disparat (de), verschieden (de), ungleich (de), ungleichartig
• Japanese: 異質な (ja) (ishitsu na)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: uensartet

• Portuguese: disperso (pt) m
• Russian: несравнимый (ru) (nesravnimyj), несоизмеримый (ru) (nesoizmerimyj)
• Spanish: dispar (es), heterogéneo (es), variado (es)
• Turkish: apayrı (tr), bambaşka (tr), kıyaslanmaz, kıyaslanamaz
• Ukrainian: різнорідний m (riznoridnyj), розрізнений m (rozriznenyj), відмінний (uk) m (vidminnyj)

Further reading

• “disparate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “disparate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Noun

disparate (plural disparates)

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

Anagrams

• aspirated

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dis.pa.ʁat/

• Audio (Switzerland)

  (file)

Adjective

disparate (plural disparates)

1. disparate; incongruous

Further reading

• “disparate”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

disparate

1. inflection of disparat:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

disparate

1. feminine plural of disparato

Anagrams

• derapasti, disperata

Latin

Verb

disparāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of disparō

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒis.paˈɾa.t͡ʃi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒis.paˈɾa.t͡ʃi/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒiʃ.paˈɾa.t͡ʃi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒis.paˈɾa.te/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /diʃ.pɐˈɾa.tɨ/

Etymology 1

Deverbal from disparatar or borrowed from Spanish disparate.

Noun

disparate m (plural disparates)

1. nonsense (meaningless words or actions)

   Synonyms: asneira, dislate

   Você fala um disparate, meu amigo.

   You speak nonsense, my friend.

2. a great amount; a lot

   O povo recebia um disparate de turistas no verão.

   The town was deluged with tourists in summer.

   (literally, “The town received a great amount of tourists in the summer.”)

Etymology 2

Verb

disparate

1. inflection of disparatar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dispaˈɾate/ [d̪is.paˈɾa.t̪e]
• Rhymes: -ate
• Syllabification: dis‧pa‧ra‧te

Etymology 1

FWOTD – 22 January 2019

Deverbal from disparatar.

Noun

disparate m (plural disparates)

1. nonsense (meaningless words or actions)

   Synonym: dislate

   • (Can we date this quote?), Don Quijote:

     — […] Y no me amaño a dejarle, por más disparates que haga.

     and I can't leave him, no matter how many mistakes he makes.

   • 2010, Alberto Lema, translated by Iris Cochón, Sidecar, Caballo de Troya (Random House):

     — […] Y todo ese disparate sobre la supuesta infinitud de las personas; cuanto más sabes más quieres saber, más sabes que no sabes, etc.; es una estupidez.

     And all that hogwash about the supposed infinity of people; the more you know the more you want to know, the more you know that you don't know, etc.; it's all silliness.

2. a great amount; a lot
3. crazy idea

Etymology 2

Verb

disparate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of disparar combined with te

Etymology 3

Verb

disparate

1. inflection of disparatar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “disparate”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014