Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

DISAPPOINTMENT — DISCLAIM

DISAPPOINTMENT, n. Defeat or failure of expectation, hope, wish, desire or intention; miscarriage of design or plan.

We are apt to complain of the disappointment of our hopes and schemes, but disappointments often prove blessings and save us from calamity or ruin.

DISAPPRECIATE, v.t. [dis and appreciate.] To undervalue; not to esteem.

DISAPPROBATION, n. [dis and approbation.] A disapproving; dislike; the act of the mind which condemns what is supposed to be wrong, whether the act is expressed or not. We often disapprove, when we do not express disapprobation.

DISAPPROBATORY, a. Containing disapprobation; tending to disapprove.

DISAPPROPRIATE, a. [dis and appropriate.] Not appropriated, or not having appropriated church property; a disappropriate church is one from which the appropriated parsonage, glebe and tithes are severed.

The appropriation may be severed and the church become disappropriate, two ways.

DISAPPROPRIATE, v.t.

1. To sever or separate, as an appropriation; to withdraw from an appropriate use.

The appropriations of the several parsonages would have been, by the rules of the common law, disappropriated.

2. To deprive of appropriated property, as a church.

DISAPPROVAL, n. Disapprobation; dislike.

DISAPPROVE, v.t.

1. To dislike; to condemn in opinion or judgment; to censure as wrong. We often disapprove the conduct of others, or public measures, whether we express an opinion or not. It is often followed by of; as, to disapprove of behavior. But modern usage inclines to omit of.

2. To manifest dislike or disapprobation; to reject, as disliked, what is proposed for sanction.

The sentence of the court-marital was disapproved by the commander in chief.

DISAPPROVED, pp. Disliked; condemned; rejected.

DISAPPROVING, ppr. Disliking; condemning; rejecting from dislike.

DISARD, n. A prattler; a boasting talkier.

DISARM, v.t. s as z.

1. To deprive of arms; to take the arms or weapons from, usually by force or authority; as, he disarmed his foes; the prince gave orders to disarm his subjects. With of before the thing taken away; as, to disarm one of his weapons.

2. To deprive of means of attack or defense; as, to disarm a venomous serpent.

3. To deprive of force, strength, or means of annoyance; to render harmless; to quell; as, to disarm rage or passion.

4. To strip; to divest of any thing injurious or threatening; as, piety disarms death of its terrors.

DISARMED, pp. Deprived of arms; stripped of the means of defense or annoyance; rendered harmless; subdued.

DISARMING, ppr. Stripping of arms or weapons; subduing; rendering harmless.

DISARRANGE, v.t. [dis and arrange.] To put out of order; to unsettle or disturb the order or due arrangement of parts. [See Derange, which is more generally used.]

DISARRANGEMENT, n. The act of disturbing order or method; disorder.

DISARRAY, v.t. [dis and array.]

1. To undress; to divest of clothes.

2. To throw into disorder; to rout, as troops.

DISARRAY, n.

1. Disorder; confusion; loss or want of array or regular order.

2. Undress.

DISARRAYED, pp. Divested of clothes or array; disordered.

DISARRAYING, ppr. Divesting of clothes; throwing into disorder.

DISASSIDUITY, n. Want of assiduity or care. [Not used.]

DISASSOCIATE, v.t. To disunite; to disconnect things associated.

DISASTER, n. Dizaster. [Gr., a star; a word of astrological origin.]

1. A blast or stroke of an unfavorable planet.

2. Misfortune; mishap; calamity; any unfortunate event, especially a sudden misfortune; as, we met with many disasters on the road.

DISASTER, v.t. To blast by the stroke of an unlucky planet; also, to injure; to afflict.

DISASTERED, pp. Blasted; injured; afflicted.

DISASTROUS, a.

1. Unlucky; unfortunate; calamitous; occasioning loss or injury; as, the day was disastrous; the battle proved disastrous; their fate was disastrous.

Fly the pursuit of my disastrous love.

2. Gloomy; dismal; threatening disaster.

The moon, in dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds.

DISASTROUSLY, adv. Unfortunately; in a dismal manner.

DISASTROUSNESS, n. Unfortunateness; calamitousness.

DISAUTHORIZE, v.t. [dis and authorize.] To deprive of credit or authority. [Little used.]

DISAVOUCH, v.t. [dis and avouch. See Vow.] To retract profession; to deny; to disown. [Little used.]

DISAVOW, v.t. [dis and avow. See Vow.]

1. To deny; to disown; to deny to be true, as a fact or charge respecting ones self; as, he was charged with embezzlement, but he disavows the fact. A man may disavow his name or signature; he may disavow a knowledge of a fact, or his concern in a transaction. Opposed to own or acknowledge.

2. To deny; to disown; to reject.

3. To dissent from; not to admit as true or justifiable; not to vindicate.

The Envoy disavowed some parts of the Presidents proclamation.

DISAVOWAL, n.

1. Denial; a disowning.

A disavowal of fear often proceeds from fear.

2. Rejection; a declining to vindicate.

DISAVOWED, pp. Denied; disowned.

DISAVOWING, ppr. Denying; disowning; rejecting as something not to be maintained or vindicated.

DISAVOWMENT, n. Denial; a disowning.

DISBAND, v.t. [dis and band.]

1. To dismiss from military service; to break up a band, or body of men enlisted; as, to disband an army or a regiment; to disband troops.

2. To scatter; to disperse.

DISBAND, v.i.

1. To retire from military service; to separate; to break up; as, the army, at the close of the war, disbands.

2. To separate; to dissolve connection.

Human society may disband. [Improper.]

3. To be dissolved. [Not used.]

When both rocks and all things shall disband.

DISBANDED, pp. Dismissed from military service; separated.

DISBANDING, ppr. Dismissing from military service; separating; dissolving connection.

DISBARK, v.t. To land from a ship; to put on shore.

DISBELIEF, n. [dis and belief.] Refusal of credit or faith; denial of belief.

Our belief or disbelief of a thing does not alter the nature of the thing.

DISBELIEVE, v.t. [dis and believe.] Not to believe; to hold not to be true or not to exist; to refuse to credit. Some men disbelieve the inspiration of the scriptures, and the immortality of the soul.

DISBELIEVED, pp. Not believed; discredited.

DISBELIEVER, n. One who refuses belief; one who denies to be true or real.

DISBELIEVING, ppr. Withholding belief; discrediting.

DISBENCH, v.t. [dis and bench.] To drive from a bench or seat.

DISBLAME, v.t. To clear from blame. [Not used.]

DISBODIED, a. Disembodied, which is the word now used.

DISBOWEL, v.t. [dis and bowel.] To take out the intestines.

DISBRANCH, v.t. [dis and branch.]

1. To cut off or separate, as the branch of a tree. [Little used.]

2. To deprive of branches. [Little used.]

DISBUD, v.t. To deprive of buds or shoots.

DISBURDEN, v.t. [dis and burden. See Burden.]

1. To remove a burden from; to unload; to discharge.

2. To throw off a burden; to disencumber; to clear of any thing weighty, troublesome or cumbersome; as, to disburden ones self of grief or care; to disburden of superfluous ornaments.

DISBURDEN, v.i. To ease the mind; to be relieved.

DISBURDENED, pp. Eased of a burden; unloaded; disencumbered.

DISBURDENING, ppr. Unloading; discharging; throwing off a burden; disencumbering.

DISBURSE, v.t. disburs. To pay out, as money; to spend or lay out; primarily, to pay money from a public chest or treasury, but applicable to a private purse.

DISBURSED, pp. Paid out; expended.

DISBURSEMENT, n. Disbursment.

1. The act of paying out, as money from a public or private chest.

2. The money or sum paid out; as, the annual disbursements exceed the income.

DISBURSER, n. One who pays out or disburses money.

DISBURSING, pp. Paying out, or expending.

DISC, n. [L. See Disk.] The face or breadth of the sun or moon; also, the width of the aperture of a telescope glass.

DISCALCEATE, v.t. [L., a shoe.] To pull off the shoes or sandals.

DISCALCEATED, pp. Stripped of shoes.

DISCALCEATION, n. The act of pulling off the shoes or sandals.

DISCANDY, v.i. [dis and candy.] To melt; to dissolve.

DISCARD, v.t.

1. To throw out of the hand such cards as are useless.

2. To dismiss from service or employment, or from society; to cast off; as, to discard spies and informers; to discard an old servant; to discard an associate.

3. To thrust away; to reject; as, to discard prejudices.

DISCARDED, pp. Thrown out; dismissed from service; rejected.

DISCARDING, ppr. Throwing out; dismissing from employment; rejecting.

DISCARNATE, a. [dia and L., flesh.] Stripped of flesh.

DISCASE, v.t. [dis and case.] To take off a covering from; to strip; to undress.

DISCEPTATOR, n. [L.] One who arbitrates or decides. [Not used.]

DISCERN, v.t. s as z. [L., to separate or distinguish, Gr.]

1. To separate by the eye, or by the understanding. Hence,

2. To distinguish; to see the difference between two or more things; to discriminate; as, to discern the blossom-buds from the leaf-buds of plants.

Discern thou what is thine-- Genesis 31:32.

3. To make the difference.

For nothing else discerns the virtue or the vice.

4. To discover; to see; to distinguish by the eye.

I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding. Proverbs 7:7.

5. To discover by the intellect; to distinguish; hence, to have knowledge of; to judge.

So is my lord the king to discern good and bad. 2 Samuel 14:17.

A wise man’s heart discerneth time and judgment. Ecclesiastes 8:5.

DISCERN, v.i.

1. To see or understand the difference; to make distinction; as, to discern between good and evil, truth and falsehood.

2. To have judicial cognizance.

DISCERNED, pp. Distinguished; seen; discovered.

DISCERNER, n.

1. One who sees, discovers or distinguishes; an observer.

2. One who knows and judges; one who has the power of distinguishing.

He was a great observer and discerner of mens natures and humors.

3. That which distinguishes; or that which causes to understand.

The word of God is quick and powerful--a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12.

DISCERNIBLE, a. That may be seen distinctly; discoverable by the eye or the understanding; distinguishable. A star is discernible by the eye; the identity or difference of ideas is discernible by the understanding.

DISCERNIBLENESS, n. Visibleness.

DISCERNIBLY, adv. In a manner to be discerned, seen or discovered; visibly.

DISCERNING, ppr.

1. Distinguishing; seeing; discovering; knowing; judging.

2. a. Having power to discern; capable of seeing, discriminating, knowing and judging; sharp-sighted; penetrating; acute; as a discerning man or mind.

DISCERNING, n. The act of discerning; discernment.

DISCERNINGLY, adv. With discernment; acutely; with judgment; skillfully.

DISCERNMENT, n. The act of discerning; also, the power or faculty of the mind, by which it distinguishes one thing from another, as truth from falsehood, virtue from vice; acuteness of judgment; power of perceiving differences of things or ideas, and their relations and tendencies. The errors of youth often proceed from the want of discernment.

DISCERP, v.t. [L.] To tear in pieces; to separate. [Not used.]

DISCERPIBILITY, n. Capability or liableness to be torn asunder or disunited.

DISCERPIBLE, a. [L., to seize, to tear. In some dictionaries it is written discerptible, on the authority of Glanville and More; and error indeed, but of little consequence, as the word is rarely or never used.] That may be torn asunder; separable; capable of being disunited by violence.

DISCERPTION, n. The act of pulling to pieces, or of separating the parts.

DISCESSION, n. [L.] Departure. [Not used.]

DISCHARGE, v.t.

1. To unload, as a ship; to take out, as a cargo; applied both to the ship and the loading. We say, to discharge a ship; but more generally, to discharge a cargo or the lading of the ship.

2. To free from any load or burden; to throw off or exonerate; as, discharge of business.

3. To throw off a load or charge; to let fly; to shoot; applied to fire-arms; as, to dis-charge a pistol or a cannon; or to discharge a ball or grape-shot.

4. To pay; as, to discharge a debt, a bond, a note.

5. To send away, as a creditor by payment of what is due to him. He discharge his creditors.

6. To free from claim or demand; to give an acquittance to, or a receipt in full, as to a debtor. The creditor discharged his debtor.

7. To free from an obligation; as, to discharge a man from further duty or service; to discharge a surety.

8. To clear from an accusation or crime; to acquit; to absolve; to set free; with of; as, to discharge a man of all blame.

9. To throw off or out; to let fly; to give vent to; as, to discharge a horrible oath; to discharge fury or vengeance.

10. To perform or execute, as a duty or office considered as a charge. One man discharges the office of a sheriff; another that of a priest. We are all bound to discharge the duties of piety, of benevolence and charity.

11. To divest of an office or employment; to dismiss from service; as, to discharge a steward or a servant; to discharge a soldier or seaman; to discharge a jury.

12. To dismiss; to release; to send away from any business or appointment.

Discharge your powers to their several counties.

13. To emit or send out; as, an ulcer discharges pus; a pipe discharges water.

14. To release; to liberate from confinement; as, to discharge a prisoner.

15. To put away; to remove; to clear from; to destroy. In general, to throw off any load or incumbrance; to free or clear.

DISCHARGE, v.i. To break up.

The cloud, if it were oily or fatty, would not discharge.

DISCHARGE, n.

1. An unloading, as of a ship; as the discharge of a cargo.

2. A throwing out; vent; emission; applied to a fluid, a flowing or issuing out, or a throwing out; as the discharge of water from a spring, or from a spout; applied to fire-arms, an explosion; as a discharge of cannon.

3. That which is thrown out; matter emitted; as a thin serous discharge; a purulent discharge.

4. Dismission from office or service; or the writing which evidences the dismission. The general, the soldier, obtains a discharge.

5. Release from obligation, debt or penalty; or the writing which is evidence of it; an acquittance; as, the debtor has a discharge.

6. Absolution from a crime or accusation; acquittance.

7. Ransom; liberation; price paid for deliverance.

8. Performance; execution; applied to an office, trust or duty. A good man is faithful in the discharge of his duties, public and private.

9. Liberation; release from imprisonment or other confinement.

10. Exemption; escape.

There is no discharge in that war. Ecclesiastes 8:8.

11. Payment, as of a debt.

DISCHARGED, pp. Unloaded; let off; shot; thrown out; dismissed from service; paid; released; acquitted; freed from debt or penalty; liberated; performed; executed.

DISCHARGER, n.

1. He that discharges in any manner.

2. One who fires a gun.

3. In electricity, an instrument for discharging a Leyden phial, jar, etc., by opening a communication between the two surfaces.

DISCHARGING, pp. Unlading; letting fly; shooting; throwing out; emiting; dismissing from service; paying; releasing from debt, obligation or claim; acquitting; liberating; performing; executing.

DISCHURCH, v.t. To deprive of the rank of a church.

DISCIDE, v.t. To divide; to cut in pieces. [Not used.]

DISCINCT, a. Ungirded.

DISCIND, v.t. To cut in two. [Not used.]

DISCIPLE, n. [L., to learn.]

1. A learner; a scholar; one who receives or professes to receive instruction from another; as the disciples of Plato.

2. A follower; an adherent to the doctrines of another. Hence the constant attendants of Christ were called his disciples; and hence all Christians are called his disciples, as they profess to learn and receive his doctrines and precepts.

DISCIPLE, v.t.

1. To teach; to train, or bring up.

2. To make disciples of; to convert to doctrines or principles.

This authority he employed in sending missionaries to disciple all nations.

3. To punish; to discipline. [Not in use.]

DISCIPLED, pp. Taught; trained; brought up; made a disciple.

DISCIPLE-LIKE, a. Becoming a disciple.

DISCIPLESHIP, n. The state of a disciple or follower in doctrines and precepts.

DISCIPLINABLE, a. [See Discipline.]

1. Capable of instruction, and improvement in learning.

2. That may be subjected to discipline; as a disciplinable offense, in church government.

3. Subject or liable to discipline, as the member of a church.

DISCIPLINABLENESS, n.

1. Capacity of receiving instruction by education.

2. The state of being subject to discipline.

DISCIPLINANT, n. One of a religious order, so called from their practice of scourging themselves, or other rigid discipline.

DISCIPLINARIAN, a. Pertaining to discipline.

DISCIPLINARIAN, n. One who disciplines; one versed in rules, principles and practice, and who teaches them with precision; particularly, one who instructs in military and naval tactics and maneuvers. It is chiefly used in the latter sense, and especially for one who is well versed in, or teaches with exactness, military exercises and evolutions.

2. A puritan or presbyterian; so called from his rigid adherence to religious discipline. [I believe not now used.]

DISCIPLINARY, a.

1. Pertaining to discipline; intended for discipline or government; promoting discipline; as, certain canons of the church are disciplinary.

2. Relating to a regular course of education; intended for instruction.

The evils of life, pain, sickness, losses, sorrows, dangers and disappointments, are disciplinary and remedial.

DISCIPLINE, n. [L., to learn.]

1. Education; instruction; cultivation and improvement, comprehending instruction in arts, sciences, correct sentiments, morals and manners, and due subordination to authority.

2. Instruction and government, comprehending the communication of knowledge and the regulation of practice; as military discipline, which includes instruction in manual exercise, evolutions and subordination.

3. Rule of government; method of regulating principles and practice; as the discipline prescribed for the church.

4. Subjection to laws, rules, order, precepts or regulations; as, the troops are under excellent discipline; the passions should be kept under strict discipline.

5. Correction; chastisement; punishment intended to correct crimes or errors; as the discipline of the strap.

6. In ecclesiastical affairs, the execution of the laws by which the church is governed, and infliction of the penalties enjoined against offenders, who profess the religion of Jesus Christ.

7. Chastisement or bodily punishment inflicted on a delinquent in the Romish Church; or that chastisement or external mortification which a religious person inflicts on himself.

DISCIPLINE, v.t.

1. To instruct or educate; to inform the mind; to prepare by instructing in correct principles and habits; as, to discipline youth for a profession, or for future usefulness.

2. To instruct and govern; to teach rules and practice, and accustom to order and subordination; as, to discipline troops or an army.

3. To correct; to chastise; to punish.

4. To execute the laws of the church on offenders, with a view to bring them to repentance and reformation of life.

5. To advance and prepare by instruction.

DISCIPLINED, pp. Instructed; educated; subjected to rules and regulations; corrected; chastised; punished; admonished.

DISCIPLINING, pp. Instructing; educating; subjecting to order and subordination; correcting; chastising; admonishing; punishing.

DISCLAIM, v.t. [dis and claim.]

1. To disown; to disavow; to deny the possession of; to reject as not belonging to ones self. A man disclaims all knowledge of a particular transaction; he disclaims every pretension to eloquence; he disclaims nay right to interfere in the affairs of his neighbor; he disclaims all pretensions to military skill. It is opposed to claim or challenge.

2. To renounce; to reject; as, to disclaim the authority of the pope.

3. To deny all claim. A tenant may disclaim to hold of his lord.

DISCLAIM, v.i. To disavow all part or share. [Unusual.]

Nature disclaims in thee.