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• dis
  dis

  noun

  lady; woman.
• Dis
  Dis

  noun

  a god of the underworld.
• DIS
  DIS

  abbreviation

  the Disney Channel: a cable television channel.
• dis-
  dis-

  a Latin prefix meaning “apart,” “asunder,” “away,” “utterly,” or having a privative, negative, or reversing force (see de-, un-); used freely, especially with these latter senses, as an English formative.
• dis.
  dis.

  abbreviation

  distance.

dis

¹ American  

[dees] / dis /

noun

Scandinavian Mythology.

disir plural

1. lady; woman.

2. female deity, especially one promoting fertility: often used as a suffix on names.

   Freydis; Hjordis; Thordis.

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dis ² American  

[dis] / dɪs /

verb (used with object)

dissed, dissing

1. to show disrespect for; affront.

2. to disparage; belittle.

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noun

1. insult or disparagement; criticism.

Dis ³ American  

[dis] / dɪs /

noun

Classical Mythology.

1. a god of the underworld.

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DIS ⁴ American  

abbreviation

Trademark.

1. the Disney Channel: a cable television channel.

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dis- ⁵ American  

1. a Latin prefix meaning “apart,” “asunder,” “away,” “utterly,” or having a privative, negative, or reversing force (see de-, un-); used freely, especially with these latter senses, as an English formative.

   disability; disaffirm; disbar; disbelief; discontent; dishearten; dislike; disown.

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dis- ⁶ American  

1. variant of di- before s: dissyllable.

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dis. ⁷ American  

abbreviation

1. distance.

2. distant.

3. distribute.

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dis- ¹ British  

prefix

1. indicating reversal

   disconnect

   disembark

2. indicating negation, lack, or deprivation

   dissimilar

   distrust

   disgrace

3. indicating removal or release

   disembowel

   disburden

4. expressing intensive force

   dissever

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Dis ² British  

/ dɪs /

noun

1. Also called: Orcus.   Pluto.  the Roman god of the underworld

2. the abode of the dead; underworld

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dis- ³ British  

combining form

1. variant of di- 1

   dissyllable

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dis ⁴ British  

/ dɪs /

verb

1. a variant spelling of diss

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Usage

What does dis mean? Dis means to disrespect, belittle, or disparage something or someone, usually publicly, as in Zuhair dissed Jamal by telling him his hair looked awful. Dissing someone isn’t a nice thing to do. It means you’re showing them disrespect by insulting them. A dis can be something hurtful you say or something hurtful you do, like crossing the street when you bump into a former friend. Example: You’re always dissing that guy, but he isn’t that bad.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• disir
  plural

Etymology

Origin of dis¹

< Old Norse dīs, plural dīsir; origin uncertain

Origin of dis²

1980–85, from dis- ¹ extracted from such words as disrespect and disparage

Origin of dis-⁵

< Latin (akin to bis, Greek dís twice); before f, dif-; before some consonants, di-; often replacing obsolete des- < Old French

Example Sentences

Two DIs have fire hoses going full blast.

From Nature • Sep. 1, 2020

DIs can trace their roots back to legendary DA Thomas E. Dewey’s racket busters of the 1930s and ‘40s who gathered evidence that led to the conviction of Charles “Lucky” Luciano and others.

From Washington Times • Jul. 13, 2015

Then, as Manhattan’s longest-serving district attorney, he increased the number of district attorney investigators, called DIs, from about 20 to more than 80 over three decades.

From Washington Times • Jul. 13, 2015

In fact, the biggest difference between DIs and four-strokes is acceleration.

From Time Magazine Archive

Related Words

• belittle
• decry
• defame
• degrade
• denigrate
• deride
• discredit
• dismiss
• malign
• ridicule
• scorn
• slander
• underrate
• vilify