French word

disperser

Pronunciation

IPA/dispɛʁse/

Meaning

  • verbdisperse

Example

Le professeur disperse les élèves en petits groupes.

The teacher disperses the students into small groups.

Illustration for disperser (disperse)

More examples

Le vent a dispersé les papiers dans le jardin.

The wind scattered the papers in the garden.

Core concept

A gathered group or collection spreading outward from a center into separate places.

Common phrases

  • se disperser

    disperse

  • disperser une foule

    disperse a crowd

  • disperser les élèves

    disperse the students

Similar words

séparer: The act of splitting something held together into several distinct parts.
éloigner: The act of causing someone or something to move farther away from a place.
pousser: The act of using physical force to move someone or something forward or outward.
expulser: The act of removing someone from a place by force, authority, or other means.

Definition in French

Signifie faire s'éloigner et séparer des personnes ou des objets; s'emploie transitivement pour provoquer la dispersion et pronominalement (se disperser) pour décrire l'action de s'éloigner.

Word origin

French disperser comes from Latin dispergere, formed from dis- 'apart' and spargere 'to scatter', and retains the idea of scattering into separate places.

Usage tips

  • Disperser is transitive when an external agent separates people or objects, while se disperser describes them moving apart themselves.

Other meanings

  • scatterverb
  • dismissverb

Opposites

Related words

  • dispersiondispersionnoun
  • disperséscatteredadjective

Word lists with this word