Etymograph

English

disperse

Disperse comes from Latin dispersus ‘scattered (about), dispersed’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *spregʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spregʰ-1uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sperh₂g-1uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspargō2‘to scatter’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdispergō2‘to scatter abroad, disperse’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdispersus2‘scattered (about), dispersed’past participle of dispergō
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600disperser2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1611disperse2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin spargo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English disperse
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “The lippes of the wiſe diſperſe knowledge: but the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spregʰ-Wiktionary, Latin spargouncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sperh₂g-Wiktionary, Latin spargouncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspargōWiktionary, English disperse‘to scatter’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdispergōWiktionary, English disperse‘to scatter abroad, disperse’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdispersusWiktionary, English disperse‘scattered (about), dispersed’past participle of dispergō
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600disperserWiktionary, English disperse
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1611disperseWiktionary, English disperse. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “The lippes of the wiſe diſperſe knowledge: but the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *spregʰ-

speak, spake, 6 more

Today it means

verb To scatter in different directions.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “disperse”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin spargo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *spregʰ- / disperse

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