Wiktionary

disintegrate

English

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Etymology

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Recorded since 1785, dis- +‎ integrate

Pronunciation

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  • (UK) IPA(key): /dɪsˈɪntɪɡɹeɪt/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Hyphenation: dis‧in‧te‧grate

Verb

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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

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Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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

Anagrams

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Italian

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Etymology 1

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Verb

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disintegrate

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

Etymology 2

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Participle

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disintegrate f pl

  1. feminine plural of disintegrato
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