disband

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb cause to break up or cease to function
  2. verb stop functioning or cohering as a unit

Etymology

Attested since the 1590s, from Middle French desbander (Modern French débander), from des- (English dis-) + bande (English band), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie”). By surface analysis, dis- + band.

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