Disambiguate is a word that sounds intriguing. #WordWednesdayFun is partly to do with my love of words, part to do with my love of ‘word sounds,’ partly related to increasing ‘word power,’ and hopefully helping the odd person learn a new word to add to their vocabulary.
Usual format – Merriam-Webster:
Definition of disambiguate
disambiguated disambiguating
transitive verb
: to establish a single semantic or grammatical interpretation for
disambiguation dis-amˌbi-gyə-ˈwā-shən, -gyü-ˈā-\ nounFirst Known Use of disambiguate
1963
That is all there is! How disappointing and minimalist! And ‘first use’ in 1963 – I’m older than this word 🙂
That does not do this great word justice so let’s venture into the virtual etymological world – the first site on my Google search was vocabulary.com:
Disambiguation refers to the removal of ambiguity by making something clear. Disambiguation narrows down the meaning of words and it’s a good thing.
That’s much better! I like this site. It continues:
This word makes sense if you break it down. Dis means “not,” ambiguous means “unclear,” and the ending -tion makes it a noun. So disambiguation is the act of making something clear. Disambiguation distinguishes between different meanings of words. If you say the word joker, do you mean a playing card, a prankster, or a Batman villain? Disambiguation will clear things up. If you mention that you were playing poker, then it’s clear which joker you’re talking about. When you see the word disambiguation, think “clearing up confusion.”
There you have it. That’s how kids should be taught at school – give them examples like the entry in vocabulary.com. It makes learning interesting and fun. Don’t you think?
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