disturb

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English

Etymology

From Middle English destourben, from Anglo-Norman distourber and Old French destorber, from Latin disturbare, intensifying for turbare (“to throw into disorder”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)twerH-, *(s)turH- (“to rotate, swirl, twirl, move around”).

Pronunciation

Verb

disturb (third-person singular simple present disturbs, present participle disturbing, simple past and past participle disturbed)

  1. (transitive) to confuse a quiet, constant state or a calm, continuous flow, in particular: thoughts, actions or liquids.
    Synonyms: (thoughts) perturb, unsettle; see also Thesaurus:upset
    Synonyms: (liquids) agitate, muddle, roil, trouble
    The noisy ventilation disturbed me during the exam.
    The performance was disturbed twice by a ringing mobile phone.
    A school of fish disturbed the water.
  2. (transitive) to divert, redirect, or alter by disturbing.
    A mudslide disturbed the course of the river.
    The trauma disturbed his mind.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker ; nd by Robert Boulter ; nd Matthias Walker, , →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873, →OCLC:
      disturb his inmost counsels from their destined aim
  3. (intransitive) to have a negative emotional impact; to cause emotional distress or confusion.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

disturb

  1. (obsolete) disturbance
    • 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker ; nd by Robert Boulter ; nd Matthias Walker, , →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873, →OCLC:
      Instant without disturb they took alarm
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