Disconnected

How to spell disconnected

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce disconnected

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does disconnected mean?

1. adjectiveLacking connection, coherence, or a working link between parts.
2. verbBroke the link between two things, or unplugged a device from a power or network source.

Disconnected in a sentence

• adjective

  The report felt disconnected, jumping between topics without any clear order.

• verb

  The engineer disconnected the faulty router before replacing it.

• adjective

  After years abroad she felt disconnected from her old colleagues.

• verb

  She disconnected the old phone line when the new contract began.

Where does disconnected come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built from the verb 'connect' with the reversing prefix 'dis-' and the ending '-ed'. 'Connect' comes from the Latin conectere (also spelled connectere), formed from the prefix con-, a variant of com- meaning 'together', and the verb nectere, which literally meant 'to bind, tie, or fasten'. So at root the idea is of things bound together, and 'disconnected' describes the binding being undone or never made. English took 'connect' into use in the 1400s, mostly through learned Latin influence, and the prefix 'dis-', which carries the sense of 'apart' or 'reversal', was attached to produce the negative. The same nectere root survives in 'annex' and in 'nexus', a word still used for a point where things join. The spelling trap is the single 's' followed by the doubled 'n' and 'c' region: writers must remember 'dis-' has one 's', while 'connect' carries its doubled 'n' and the 'ct' cluster.

How the word is built

• dis- (apart, reversing)
• connect (Latin conectere: con- 'together'
• nectere 'to bind')
• -ed (past tense / adjective suffix)