disambiguate
/ˌdɪs.amˈbɪɡ.juːeɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.62 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
3
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To remove ambiguities from; to make less ambiguous; to clarify or specify which of multiple possibilities applies – e.g., possible meanings of an ambiguous statement – or to invite or require this.
verb
To distinguish one word or lexical unit (from a different one which has a similar form).
Example Sentences
- "When necessary, the Greek spelling is disambiguated by an appended phonetic transcription."
- "The dictionary's traditional “readers” have largely survived this transition, too. They find earlier and better uses of terms which computers can't (in the jargon) disambiguate—distinguish from other similar uses."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ▲ Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Old French des-bor. ▲ Latin dis-bor. Middle English dis- English dis- Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts? Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰíder. Proto-Italic *amβi- Latin ambi- Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Latin ambig(ō) Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Italic *-wos Latin -uus Latin ambiguuslbor. English ambigu(ous) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātuslbor. English -ate English ambiguate English disambiguate From dis- + ambiguate.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌdɪs.amˈbɪɡ.juːeɪt/
- British English: /ˌdɪ.samˈbɪɡjuːeɪt/