Dictionary

disambiguate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌdɪs.amˈbɪɡ.juːeɪt/ (Australia)
• /ˌdɪ.samˈbɪɡjuːeɪt/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ▲ Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Old French des-bor. ▲ Latin dis-bor. Middle English dis- English dis- Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts? Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰíder. Proto-Italic *amβi- Latin ambi- Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Latin ambig(ō) Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Italic *-wos Latin -uus Latin ambiguuslbor. English ambigu(ous) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātuslbor. English -ate English ambiguate English disambiguate From dis- + ambiguate.

Meanings

1. To remove ambiguities from; to make less ambiguous; to clarify or specify which of multiple possibilities applies – e.g., possible meanings of an ambiguous statement – or to invite or require this.
2. To distinguish one word or lexical unit (from a different one which has a similar form).
   • When necessary, the Greek spelling is disambiguated by an appended phonetic transcription. 1967, Language: Journal of the Linguistic Society of America, volume 43, page 619:
   • The dictionary's traditional “readers” have largely survived this transition, too. They find earlier and better uses of terms which computers can't (in the jargon) disambiguate—distinguish from other similar uses. 2016, John Simpson, The Word Detective, Little, Brown, published 2016, page 281:

Forms

Deriveds

disambiguatory · disambiguator · disambiguation

Translations (20)

pt desambigüizar (remove ambiguities) · pt desambiguar (remove ambiguities) · pl ujednoznaczniać (remove ambiguities) · de vereindeutigen (remove ambiguities) · eo disigi (remove ambiguities) · eo apartigi (remove ambiguities) · sv klargöra (remove ambiguities) · hu egyértelműsít (remove ambiguities) · it disambiguare (remove ambiguities) · pl ujednoznacznić (remove ambiguities) · es desambiguar (remove ambiguities) · fi yksikäsitteistää (remove ambiguities) · fr désambiguïser (remove ambiguities) · el αποσαφηνίζω (remove ambiguities) · fi yksiselitteistää (remove ambiguities) · fr désambigüiser (remove ambiguities) · pt desambiguizar (remove ambiguities) · de disambiguieren (remove ambiguities) · de eindeutig machen (remove ambiguities) · nl desambigueren (remove ambiguities)