dis-1

1.
a Latin prefix meaning “apart,” “asunder,” “away,” “utterly,” or having a privative, negative, or reversing force (see de-, un-2. ); used freely, especially with these latter senses, as an English formative:
disability; disaffirm; disbar; disbelief; discontent; dishearten; dislike; disown.
Also, di-.
Origin
< Latin (akin to bis, Greek dís twice); before f, dif-; before some consonants, di-; often replacing obsolete des- < Old French

dis-2

1.
variant of di-1. before s: dissyllable.
Examples from the web for dis-
  • Often, the whole lecturing type environment might of a dis-service to students of today.
  • And thus she is not dis-honoured by their conduct, which appears holy.
  • It was an eye-opener, with virtuoso dis-plays of color at every turn.
  • Any aggression should always be dis-allowed and corrected.
  • Belief or dis-belief in an afterlife can work both ways.
  • Only well-designed research, executed well, can help dis-entangle these things.
  • And, a true dis-service to those that could certainly benefit from it.
  • Clearly trying to inform the public with bad information is not doing them a service, but a dis-service.
  • It's not dis-provable, which is a necessary aspect of science.
  • If it's so bad, let's convince people who benefit from it to dis-enroll.
British Dictionary definitions for dis-

dis-1

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
Word Origin
from Latin dis- apart; in some cases, via Old French des-. In compound words of Latin origin, dis- becomes dif- before f and di- before some consonants

dis-2

combining form
1.
variant of di-1 dissyllable
Word Origin and History for dis-

(assimilated as dif- before -f-, to di- before most voiced consonants), word-forming element meaning 1. "lack of, not" (e.g. dishonest); 2. "do the opposite of" (e.g. disallow); 3. "apart, away" (e.g. discard), from Old French des- or directly from Latin dis- "apart, in a different direction, between," figuratively "not, un-," also "exceedingly, utterly," from PIE *dis- "apart, asunder" (cf. Old English te-, Old Saxon ti-, Old High German ze-, German zer-).

The PIE root is a secondary form of *dwis- and thus is related to Latin bis "twice" (originally *dvis) and to duo, on notion of "two ways, in twain."

In classical Latin, dis- paralelled de- and had much the same meaning, but in Late Latin dis- came to be the favored form and this passed into Old French as des-, the form used for new compound words formed in Old French, where it increasingly had a privative sense ("not").

In English, many of these words eventually were altered back to dis-, while in French many have been altered back to de-. The usual confusion prevails.

dis- in Medicine

dis- pref.

  1. Not: disjugate.

  2. Absence of; opposite of: disorientation.

  3. Undo; do the opposite of: dislocate.

  4. Deprive of; remove: dismember.