Disparate

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈdɪsp(É™)ɹət/, ˈdɪsp(É™)ɹɪt/

• US IPA: /ˈdɪsp(É™)ɹət/
• US IPA: /dɪˈspɛɹət/
• US IPA: /dɪˈspæɹət/

Origin

From Latin disparātus, past participle of disparāre ("to divide"), from dis- ("apart") + parāre ("to make equal"), from par ("equal")

Full definition of disparate

Adjective

1. Composed of inherently different or distinct elements; incongruous.The board of the company was decidedly disparate – no two members from the same social or economic background.
2. Essentially different; of different species, unlike but not opposed in pairs; also, less properly, utterly unlike; incapable of being compared; having no common genus.
• 1898, John Wesley Powell, S:Truth and Error or the Science of Intellection/Chapter 14, Then disparate sense impressions come to disparate organs, as light to the eye, taste to the mouth, etc.
• 1912, Bertrand Russel, S:The Philosophy of Bergson (Russell), M. Bergson’s philosophy, unlike most of the systems of the past, is dualistic: the world, for him, is divided into two disparate portions, on the one hand life, on the other matter, or rather that inert something which the intellect views as matter.

Synonyms

• (composed of distinct elements): incongruous, mismatched, uncoordinated
• (markedly different): different, dissimilar, unalike

Related terms

• dispair
• disparately
• disparateness
• disparity

Noun

1. (chiefly in the plural) Any of a group of unequal or dissimilar things.

Anagrams

• aspirated