dispatch
/dɪˈspæt͡ʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.76 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To send (an important official message) promptly, by means of a diplomat or military officer.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "The League of One was suddenly exposed and in danger of being hunted by enemies of the salarians. Before any harm could be done, the team mysteriously disappeared.[...]Realizing the threat posed by this rogue outfit, the Special Tasks Group dispatched a team of hunters. When they didn't return, the STG dispatched ten of its brightest operators with broad discretionary powers. Only two returned; they reported no evidence of the League."
- "Scores of foreign journalists have been dispatched to Seoul to report on the growing tensions between the two Koreas and the possibility of war."
- "Yet, ere we put ourselves in arms, dispatch we / The business we have talk'd of."
- "the which company of harvest men, being ready at the day appointed, almost in one fair day dispatcheth all the harvest work."
- "But whā I had cleane diſpatched myſelf of this great charge and taſke, I loked not that I ſhould at any tyme afterwarde have any more to doe with this kynde of writing"
- ""And our dogs used to tree the cats on our property here, and we'd dispatch them.""
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish despachar and/or Italian dispacciare. Further etymology is uncertain. For first element des-, see dis-. Second element probably from either Vulgar Latin *pactāre (“to fasten"”), *pactiare or Latin -pedicāre (“to entrap, shackle”), from pedica, from pēs. Ultimately related to impeach through shared Latin root. The first known use in writing (in the past tense, spelled as dispached) is by Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall in 1517. This would be unusually early for a borrowing from a Romance language other than French, but Tunstall had studied in Italy and was Commissioner to Spain, so this word may have been borrowed through diplomatic circles. The alternative spelling despatch was introduced in Samuel Johnson's dictionary, probably by accident. Compare typologically deliver (for the meaning to bring or transport) (< Latin dē- + līberō).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: dispacciare, *pactāre, -pedicāre
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /dɪˈspæt͡ʃ/
- British English: /dɪˈspæt͡ʃ/