disintegrate

English

Etymology

Recorded since 1785, dis- +‎ integrate

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈɪntɪɡɹeɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: dis‧in‧te‧grate

Verb

disintegrate (third-person singular simple present disintegrates, present participle disintegrating, simple past and past participle disintegrated)

1. (transitive) To undo the integrity of, break into parts.
   • 1784, Richard Kirwan, Elements of Mineralogy:

     Marlites […] are not disintegrated by exposure to the atmosphere, at least in six years.

   1. (science fiction, transitive) To cause to break up into infinitesimal parts through the use of a disintegrator.
      • 1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Disintegration Machine‎^[1]:

        There is a Latvian gentleman named Theodore Nemor living at White Friars Mansions, Hampstead, who claims to have invented a machine of a most extraordinary character which is capable of disintegrating any object placed within its sphere of influence.

2. (intransitive) To fall apart, break up into parts.
   • 1968, Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 2nd edition, London: Fontana Press, published 1993, page 20:

     Hence they are eloquent, not of the present, disintegrating society and psyche, but of the unquenched source through which society is reborn.

Synonyms

• (transitive, to cause to break into parts) dismember, dissolve
• (intransitive, to break into one's parts) compost, decay, dissolve
• See also Thesaurus:destroy

Antonyms

• integrate

Derived terms

• disintegrating link
• disintegration
• disintegrative
• disintegrator
• orally disintegrating tablet

 

Translations

cause to break into parts

• Bulgarian: разлагам (bg) (razlagam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (all prefixed by 使 shǐ) 解體／解体 (zh) (jiětǐ), 瓦解 (zh) (wǎjiě), 崩潰／崩溃 (zh) (bēngkuì), 粉碎 (zh) (fěnsuì), 崩裂 (zh) (bēngliè), 分崩離析／分崩离析 (zh) (fēnbēnglíxī)

• Dutch: desintegreren (nl), ontbinden (nl), opbreken (nl)
• Finnish: hajottaa (fi)
• French: désintégrer (fr)
• Georgian: დაშლა (dašla), დაქუცმაცება (dakucmaceba), დანგრევა (dangreva), დეზინტეგრირება (dezinṭegrireba), დეზინტეგრაცია (dezinṭegracia)
• German: desintegrieren, auflösen (de)
• Italian: disintegrare (it)
• Latin: dīlābor
• Malay: menyepaikan
• Portuguese: desintegrar (pt)
• Romanian: dezintegra (ro), dezagrega (ro)
• Russian: разлага́ть (ru) impf (razlagátʹ), разложи́ть (ru) pf (razložítʹ)
• Spanish: disgregar (es)

break up into one's parts

• Azerbaijani: dağılmaq (az)
• Bulgarian: разлагам се (razlagam se), разпадам се (razpadam se)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 解體／解体 (zh) (jiětǐ), 瓦解 (zh) (wǎjiě), 崩潰／崩溃 (zh) (bēngkuì), 粉碎 (zh) (fěnsuì), 崩裂 (zh) (bēngliè), 分崩離析／分崩离析 (zh) (fēnbēnglíxī)

• Danish: opløse, desintegrere
• Dutch: desintegreren (nl), uiteenvallen (nl)
• Finnish: hajota (fi)
• German: sich auflösen (de), zerfallen (de)
• Irish: díscaoil
• Italian: disintegrarsi (it)
• Lithuanian: suskaidymas
• Malay: bersepai
• Polish: rozpadać się (pl) impf, rozpaść się (pl) pf
• Portuguese: desintegrar (pt)
• Russian: разлага́ться (ru) impf (razlagátʹsja), разложи́ться (ru) pf (razložítʹsja)
• Slovene: dezintegracija
• Spanish: desintegrar (es)
• Swedish: sönderfalla (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} désintégrer (fr)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} desintegrare
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} desintegrare

Anagrams

• reinstigated

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

disintegrate

1. inflection of disintegrare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

disintegrate f pl

1. feminine plural of disintegrato