Disable

How to spell disable

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce disable

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does disable mean?

1. verbTo make something or someone unable to work, function, or act.

Disable in a sentence

• A single fault can disable the entire alarm system.

• You can disable the pop-up notifications in the settings menu.

Where does disable come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built from the negating prefix dis-, meaning 'not' or 'the opposite of', joined to 'able', which traces back to the Latin habilis, meaning 'easy to handle' or 'fit for a purpose', itself from habere 'to hold or have'. English already had the verb 'able' meaning 'to make capable', borrowed through Old French from that Latin source, so disable was formed in the late 1400s simply by reversing it: to make something or someone not able. Its earliest senses described stripping a person of legal standing or physical capacity, and only much later did it spread to machines, switches, and software features that you switch off. The same habilis root quietly sits inside the everyday words 'ability', 'habit', and 'rehabilitate'. Because the spelling joins a familiar prefix to a familiar word, the single s of dis- and the silent e of -able are the only points where writers occasionally hesitate.

How the word is built

• dis- (not, reverse, undo)
• -able (root from Latin habilis: fit, able to be handled)