disport
/dəˈspɔɹt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.28 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Afterward, as appeareth by Euſtachius, there was ſome Greekes diſported themſelues herein, as he which turned Atlas for his heauie burthen in ſupporting Heauen, to Talas, that is, Wretched; Arete, Vertue, into Erate, that is, Louely; Ilaros, Merrie, into Liaros, that is, warme."
- "For my part, I love not to disport myself at the weakness of any man, or to turn his folly into laughter: for what were this, but to reflect dishonour upon the same nature, wherein he partakes with myself?"
- "He ſummons ſtrait his Denizens of air; / The lucid ſquadrons round the ſails repair: / [...] / Looſe to the wind their airy garments flew, / Thin glitt'ring textures of the filmy dew; / Dipt in the richeſt tincture of the skies, / Where light diſports in ever-mingling dies, [...]"
- "Childe Harold bask'd him in the noon-tide sun, / Disporting there like any other fly; / Nor deem'd before his little day was done / One blast might chill him into misery."
- "In the silent watches of the night, calm night that breedeth thoughts, / When the task-weary mind disporteth in the careless play-hours of sleep, / I dreamed; [...]"
- "What generous, ardent, imaginative soul has not a secret pleasure-place in which it disports?"
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English disporten, desporten (“to take part in entertainment, sport, etc., to pass time, amuse oneself, be merry; to amuse, entertain; to cheer, console; to behave (in a particular way), deport; to be active, to busy; to relieve (someone of a task); to prevent (someone from attending)”), from Anglo-Norman desporter, Old French desporter, deporter, depporter (“to amuse, entertain; to pass time, amuse oneself; to forbear; to stop”), from Latin deportāre, present active infinitive of dēportō (“to bring, convey; to bring or take home; to carry along or down; to banish, transport”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘from, off’) + portō (“to bear, carry; to bring, convey”) (from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to carry forth; fare”)). The English word is a doublet of deport and sport. The noun is derived from Middle English disport, desport (“activity providing amusement, pleasure or relaxation; entertainment, recreation; game, pastime, sport; pleasure derived from an activity; source of comfort; consolation, solace; conduct, deportment; customary behaviour, manner; act, activity; departure”), from Anglo-Norman disport, Old French desport, deport (“game, pastime, sport; pleasure, recreation; disport”), from desporter: see further above.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /dəˈspɔɹt/
- British English: /dɪˈspɔːt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
disports (present, singular)
disporting (participle, present)
disported (participle, past)
disported (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
disported (first person, past)
disportest (archaic, present)
disported (past, second person)
disportedst (archaic, past)
disporteth (archaic, present)
disported (past, singular)