English
disposition
Disposition comes from Latin dispōnō ‘to dispose, distribute or arrange’, from 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 CEdispōnō2‘to dispose, distribute or arrange’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdispositiōnem2
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600disposition2
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500disposicioun2
- Englishearliest quotation 1749disposition2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin dispono
- 2 Wiktionary, English disposition
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1749, Henry Fielding, London: A[ndrew] Millar: “He was, indeed, a lad of a remarkable disposition;…”.
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, English disposition‘to dispose, distribute or arrange’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdispositiōnemWiktionary, English disposition
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600dispositionWiktionary, English disposition
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500disposiciounWiktionary, English disposition
- Englishearliest quotation 1749dispositionWiktionary, English disposition. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1749, Henry Fielding, London: A[ndrew] Millar: “He was, indeed, a lad of a remarkable disposition;…”
Equivalent to dispose + -ition
Proto-Indo-European *tḱey- ‘to cultivate’
…
Proto-Italic *pozinō
Latin pōnō ‘place, put’
Latin dispōnō ‘to dispose, distribute or arrange’
French disposer ‘to organize, to arrange, to distribute in a…’
English dispose
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *tḱey- ‘to cultivate’
homeless, suppose, compound, hamlet, impose, bohemian, homely, hame, 50 more
through Proto-Indo-European *tḱinéti
apposite, prepositional, 39 more
through Proto-Italic *sinō ‘to put in place’
site, situation, posture, situate, compostela, supposition, preposition, situs, positivism, 41 more
through Proto-Italic *pozinō
compost, suppository, impost, compositor, presupposition, 25 more
through Latin pōnō ‘place, put’
post, purpose, positive, opposite, opponent, propose, opposition, expose, composition, consolation, compose, proposition, repository, proponent, exposition, exponent, deposition, expound, imposition, posit, presuppose, pone, 49 more
Today it means
noun The way in which something or someone is disposed or disposed of (in any sense of those terms); thus: The arrangement or placement of certain things.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “disposition”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin dispono. 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- / disposition