disparate

disparate
disparate
is in regular use in two main meanings, (1) ‘essentially different or diverse in kind’ (disparate cultures, disparate elements, disparate groups, disparate styles) and (2) ‘unequal’ (people of disparate ages / countries of disparate size). The first meaning is the more common, although they tend to overlap. Disparate can qualify a singular (usually collective) noun or a plural noun:

• Most of the conglomerates which were made up of a disparate collection of businesses have failed —D. Oates et al., 1989

• Machines can keep the disparate parts of such a system co-ordinated much better than men can —Economist, 1991.


Modern English usage. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • disparate — [ disparat ] adj. et n. f. • 1655; lat. disparatus « inégal » I ♦ Adj. Qui n est pas en accord, en harmonie avec ce qui l entoure; dont la diversité est choquante. ⇒ discordant, divers, hétéroclite, hétérogène. Couleurs, ornements disparates qui… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • disparate — 1. (di spa ra t ) s. f. Terme vieilli. Incartade, action capricieuse et déraisonnable. •   Quelle disparate je vais faire !, SÉV. 388. •   Ce sont ces disparates là qui font que je vous crains près de moi, MAINTENON Lettre à d Aubigné, 25 oct.… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • disparate — sustantivo masculino 1. Cosa absurda, equivocada o irreflexiva: No decía más que disparates. Dejar al niño solo ha sido un dis parate. ¡Cómo lo vea por la calle, soy capaz de hacer un dis parate! 2. (no contable) Uso/registro: coloquial. Exceso,… …   Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española

  • disparate — I adjective aberrant, atypical, clashing, conflicting, contradictory, contrasting, departing from, deviating, different, differentiated, differing, digressive, disagreeing, discordant, discrepant, disproportionate, dissimilar, distinct,… …   Law dictionary

  • disparate — DISPARATE. s. f. Mot emprunté de l Espagnol. Écart, inégalité, manque de rapport ou de suite dans la conduite ou, dans les discours. Quelle disparate! Étrange disparate. Il n y a point de disparates sans inégalités, mais il peut y avoir des… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • Disparate — Dis pa*rate, a. [L. disparatus, p. p. of disparare to part, separate; dis + parare to make ready, prepare.] 1. Unequal; dissimilar; separate. [1913 Webster] Connecting disparate thoughts, purely by means of resemblances in the words expressing… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • disparate — ► ADJECTIVE 1) essentially different in kind; not able to be compared. 2) containing elements very different from one another: a culturally disparate country. DERIVATIVES disparately adverb disparateness noun. ORIGIN from Latin disparare to… …   English terms dictionary

  • disparate — c.1600, unlike in kind, from L. disparatus, pp. of disparare divide, separate, from dis apart (see DIS (Cf. dis )) + parare get ready, prepare (see PARE (Cf. pare)); meaning influenced by L. dispar unequal, unlike. Relat …   Etymology dictionary

  • disparate — s. m. 1. Tolice; despropósito, desatino; absurdo. 2.  [Galicismo] Disparidade. 3.  [Brasil] Grande quantidade …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • disparate — diverse, divergent, *different, various Analogous words: Unconsonant, incompatible, incongruous, discrepant, discordant, inconsistent: *distinct, separate Antonyms: comparable, analogous Contrasted words: similar, *like, parallel …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

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