late 14c., "disgraceful, shameful, without honesty or integrity; unjust, unfair, disposed to deceive or cheat; unmodest, unchaste," from Old French deshoneste (13c., Modern French déshonnête) "dishonorable, horrible, indecent," perhaps from a Medieval Latin or Gallo-Roman compound of Latin dis- "not" (see dis-) + honestus "honorable; deserving honor, respectable," from honos "honor, dignity, office, reputation," which is of unknown origin. The Latin formation was dehonestus. Related: Dishonestly.

late 14c., "to refuse to praise" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French desalouer "to blame," from des- "not, opposite of" (see dis-) + alouer (see allow). Meanings "to reject, refuse to receive or acknowledge," also "refuse to allow, refuse to approve or sanction" are from c. 1400. Related: Disallowed; disallowing; disallowance.

1590s, "throw out or reject a card dealt to a player, in accordance with the rules of the game," literally "to throw a card away," from dis- "away" + card (n.1). Figurative use (in a non-gaming sense) "cast off, dismiss" is attested slightly earlier (1580s). In the card-playing sense, decard is attested by 1550s. Related: Discarded; discarding. As a noun, "act of discarding or rejecting," from 1742.

active word-forming element in English and in many verbs inherited from French and Latin, from Latin de "down, down from, from, off; concerning" (see de), also used as a prefix in Latin, usually meaning "down, off, away, from among, down from," but also "down to the bottom, totally" hence "completely" (intensive or completive), which is its sense in many English words.

As a Latin prefix it also had the function of undoing or reversing a verb's action, and hence it came to be used as a pure privative — "not, do the opposite of, undo" — which is its primary function as a living prefix in English, as in defrost (1895), defuse (1943), de-escalate (1964), etc. In some cases, a reduced form of dis-.

c. 1400, "to take pleasure, to amuse oneself," from Old French desporter, deporter "to divert, amuse, please, play; to seek amusement," literally "carry away" (the mind from serious matters), from des- "away" (see dis-) + porter "to carry," from Latin portare "to carry" (from PIE root *per- (2) "to lead, pass over"). Compare disport (v.), which is the older form.

Restricted sense of "amuse oneself by active exercise in open air or taking part in some game" is from late 15c. Meaning "to wear" is from 1778. Related: Sported; sporting.

mid-14c., desdeinen, "think unworthy or worthless, look upon with contempt," from Old French desdeignier "disdain, scorn, refuse, repudiate" (Modern French dédaigner), from des- "do the opposite of" (see dis-) + deignier "treat as worthy," from Latin dignari "to deem worthy or fit," from dignus "worthy," from PIE root *dek- "to take, accept." Related: Disdained; disdaining.

surname attested from late 13c. (earlier le Despenser, mid-12c.), literally "one who dispenses or has charge of provisions in a household," short for Anglo-French espencer, Old French despencier "dispenser" (of provisions), "a butler or steward" (see dispense).

Middle English spence meant "larder, pantry," and is short for Old French despense "larder" (Modern French dépense), from despenser "to distribute," hence the surname Spence. Another form of the word is spender, which also has become a surname.

As a type of repeating rifle used in the American Civil War, 1863, named for U.S. gunsmith Christopher Spencer, who, with Luke Wheelock, manufactured them in Boston, Mass.