Etymograph

English

dissembler

Dissembler may come from Latin dissimulō ‘to conceal, hide, or dissimulate a state of mind’, from dissimilis ‘unlike’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sem-h₂-lo-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sem-h₂-lo-1uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*semalis1‘similiar’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsimilis1‘resembling, like’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdissimilis2‘unlike’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdissimulō3‘to conceal, hide, or dissimulate a state of mind’uncertain
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600dissimuler3uncertain
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dissimulen4‘to dissemble’uncertain
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dissimulour5‘a dissembler’
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1635dissembler5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin dissimilis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin dissimulo
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Middle English dissimulen
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Middle English dissimulour
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English dissembler
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1635, Henry Wotton, Earl of Essex; and George Villiers: “[T]he Earl vvas the vvorſe Philoſopher, being a great…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sem-h₂-lo-Wiktionary, Latin dissimilisuncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*semalisWiktionary, Latin dissimilis‘similiar’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsimilisWiktionary, Latin dissimilis‘resembling, like’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdissimilisWiktionary, Latin dissimulo‘unlike’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdissimulōWiktionary, Middle English dissimulen‘to conceal, hide, or dissimulate a state of mind’uncertain
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600dissimulerWiktionary, Middle English dissimulenuncertain
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dissimulenWiktionary, Middle English dissimulour‘to dissemble’uncertain
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dissimulourWiktionary, English dissembler‘a dissembler’
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1635dissemblerWiktionary, English dissembler. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1635, Henry Wotton, Earl of Essex; and George Villiers: “[T]he Earl vvas the vvorſe Philoſopher, being a great…”

Linked words

through Latin similis ‘resembling, like’

similar, simulation, simulate, assemble, semblance, assemblage, simile, simulacrum, 18 more

Today it means

noun Someone who dissembles.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dissembler”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin dissimilis, Latin dissimulo, Middle English dissimulen, Middle English dissimulour. 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 *sem-h₂-lo- / dissembler

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