Added 10 October 2026
disparate
/ˈdɪsp(ə)ɹət/ adjective
Latin root: disparātus First recorded: 1586 Wiktionary
adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about disparate at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
Composed of inherently different or distinct elements; incongruous.
The board of the company was decidedly disparate, with no two members from the same social or economic background.
- Essentially different; of different species, unlike but not opposed in pairs.
- Utterly unlike; incapable of being compared; having no common ground.
noun
- Any of a group of unequal or dissimilar things.
Origin
First attested in 1586; either borrowed from Middle French desparat or directly from Latin disparātus, perfect passive participle of disparō (“to divide”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from dis- (“apart”) + parō (“to arrange”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (“two”) and the root *per- (“carry forth”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)