English
dispose
Dispose comes from French disposer ‘to organize, to arrange, to distribute in a…’, from Latin pōnō ‘place, put’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tḱey- ‘to cultivate’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱey-1‘to cultivate’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱinéti1reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sinō1‘to put in place’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pozinō1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōnō1‘place, put’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdispōnō2as dispōnere‘to dispose, distribute or arrange’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdisposer3‘to organize, to arrange, to distribute in a certain fashion’
- Englishearliest quotation 1599dispose3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin dispono
- 2 Wiktionary, French disposer
- 3 Wiktionary, English dispose
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “Now, dear soldiers, march away: / And how thou…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱey-Wiktionary, Latin dispono‘to cultivate’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱinétiWiktionary, Latin disponoreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sinōWiktionary, Latin dispono‘to put in place’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pozinōWiktionary, Latin disponoreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōnōWiktionary, Latin dispono‘place, put’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdispōnōWiktionary, French disposeras dispōnere‘to dispose, distribute or arrange’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdisposerWiktionary, English dispose‘to organize, to arrange, to distribute in a certain fashion’
- Englishearliest quotation 1599disposeWiktionary, English dispose. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “Now, dear soldiers, march away: / And how thou…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *tḱey- ‘to cultivate’
homeless, compound, suppose, hamlet, bohemian, impose, homely, hame, 49 more
through Proto-Indo-European *tḱinéti
prepositional, apposite, 38 more
through Proto-Italic *sinō ‘to put in place’
site, situation, composition, posture, situate, supposition, preposition, situs, compostela, positivism, 40 more
through Proto-Italic *pozinō
opposition, proposition, exposition, deposition, imposition, compost, suppository, presupposition, compositor, impost, 25 more
through Latin pōnō ‘place, put’
post, position, positive, purpose, opposite, opponent, consolation, propose, expose, repository, proponent, compose, exponent, expound, posit, pone, presuppose, 54 more
Today it means
verb To eliminate or to get rid of something.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “dispose”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin dispono, French disposer. 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 *tḱey- / dispose