perturb
/pəɹˈtɜɹb/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.90 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed; to cause confusion.
Transitive verb
verb
Of a celestial body: to modify the motion or orbit of (another celestial body) by exerting a gravitational force; hence (physics), to slightly modify (the motion of an object).
Transitive verb
verb
To slightly modify (a set of equations or their solutions), producing deviations from a simple, easily solvable problem, in order to find an approximate solution to a problem that is more difficult to solve or otherwise unsolvable.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Mary therefore the more knaue art thou I ſay / That perturbeſt the worde of god I ſay […]"
- "The Nobles ſtandyng by hearyng him thus ſpeake were greatly agreeued with him, notyng in him arrogancy and wilfulneſſe, in perturbyng and refuſyng ſuch an honeſt order of agreement: […]"
- "[T]he grounds and firſt inventions of Poeticall fables, […] vvere alſo taken up by hiſtoricall VVriters, perturbing the Chaldean and Ægyptian Records vvith fabulous additions, and confounding their names and ſtories, vvith their ovvne inventions."
- "If it [benign matter] be as yet ſeated in the Lymph, and ſcarce got in among the Globules, it vvill notvvithſtanding provoke, and perturb the vital Spirits, and ſo exagitate them as to ſtir up an Efferveſcence, vvhich ceaſeth again as ſoon as the Matter can be concocted and throvvn out by inſenſible Tranſpiration, Svveat, Urine, Stools, &c."
- "[T]hou perturbest my place; / Takest from me the country of my forefathers; […]"
- "[…] I have often found / The truth thereof, in my private paſſions: / For I doe never feele my ſelfe perturb'd / VVith any generall vvords 'gainſt my profeſſion, / They doe avvake, and ſtirre me: […]"
Etymology
From Late Middle English perturben (“to disturb (someone) mentally, disquiet; to cause disorder to (something), confuse; to hinder (something)”), from Old French perturber, and from its etymon Latin perturbāre, the present active infinitive of perturbō (“to confuse; to alarm, disturb, trouble, perturb”), from per- (intensifying prefix) + turbō (“to agitate, disturb, unsettle, perturb; to upset”) (from turba (“disorder, disturbance, turmoil”) (possibly from Ancient Greek τῠ́ρβη (tŭ́rbē, “confusion, disorder, tumult”), either from Pre-Greek, or Proto-Indo-European *(s)twerH- (“to agitate, stir up; to urge on, propel”)) + -ō (suffix forming infinitives of regular first-conjugation verbs)).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /pəɹˈtɜɹb/
- British English: /pəˈtɜːb/
Usage
Inflected Forms
perturbs (present, singular)
perturbing (participle, present)
perturbed (participle, past)
perturbed (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
perturbed (first person, past)
perturbest (archaic, present)
perturbed (past, second person)
perturbedst (archaic, past)
perturbeth (archaic, present)
perturbed (past, singular)