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DictionaryRoot: des-
Old French

des-

away, apart; undoing or absence

Forms

  • des-
  • de- — The s disappeared in some later French forms.
  • dis- — A related form retained or restored in some words.

Origin

Chiefly from Latin dis-, “apart,” with influence from Latin de-, “down, away.”

Note

Several older prefixes came together in French, so the modern form does not always reveal just one source.

31 / 37
At a small café table, a man holds his wife's hand openly while secretly interlacing his other hand with another woman's behind his chair.
noun

disloyalty

dis-LOY-ul-tee/dɪsˈlɔɪəlti/

Lack of faithfulness to someone or something owed support.

Etymology
disOld Frenchaway, apart; undoing or absence
+loyalLatinpertaining to the law
+tyOld Frenchstate or quality

The law-related base developed the sense of being honorable and faithful. The negative prefix and noun ending turn that quality into its absence: a failure of faithfulness, especially a violation of allegiance or duty.

Full entry

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