Disarm
/dɪsˈɑːrm/noun
To take weapons away from someone or to make something less threatening.
Did you know?The word comes from the same Latin dis- prefix that can signal reversal or removal, so in its earliest sense it was about undoing someone’s ability to fight, not just calming them down.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
dis-
“apart, away, in different directions, or reversal/removal”
Latin
Latin
arma
“weapons, arms, military equipment”
Old French
Old French
desarmer
“to deprive of arms; to unarm”
Middle English
English
disarmen
“to strip of weapons; to make defenseless”
Modern English
English
disarm
“to take weapons away from someone or something, or to reduce hostility”