French word

disparaître

Pronunciation

IPA/dispaʁɛtʁ/

Meaning

  • verbdisappear

Example

Le chat disparaît la nuit.

The cat disappears at night.

Illustration for disparaître (disappear)

More examples

Mes clés ont disparu.

My keys have disappeared.

Core concept

A person or thing slips out of sight, leaving the visual field empty.

Common phrases

  • disparaître soudainement

    disappear suddenly

  • disparaître de la vue

    disappear from sight

  • faire disparaître

    make disappear

Similar words

partir: To leave a place and no longer be there.
s'en aller: To leave the area and go somewhere else.
se cacher: To hide somewhere so as not to be found.
faire disparaître: To make a person or thing vanish from sight.

Definition in French

Signifie cesser d'être visible, quand une chose ou une personne n'est plus vue.

Word origin

Disparaître comes from Latin disparere, built from dis- and parere, 'to appear', and passed through Old French before reaching its modern form.

Usage tips

  • Disparaître is intransitive, so the disappearing subject is grammatical subject, while an agent who makes something vanish uses faire disparaître.

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word