Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Fundamentally distinct or different in kind; entirely dissimilar.
  • adjective Containing or composed of dissimilar or opposing elements.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Essentially different; of different species, unlike but not opposed in pairs; also, less properly, utterly unlike; incapable of being compared; having no common genus.
  • noun One of two or more things or characters of different species; something that is opposite but not contrary.
  • In the psychology of sensation, belonging to or derived from different senses (said of sensations); appealing to different senses (said of stimuli).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Unequal; dissimilar; separate.
  • adjective (Logic) Pertaining to two coördinate species or divisions.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Composed of inherently different or distinct elements; incongruous.
  • adjective Essentially different; of different species, unlike but not opposed in pairs; also, less properly, utterly unlike; incapable of being compared; having no common genus.
  • noun Any of a group of unequal or dissimilar things.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective including markedly dissimilar elements
  • adjective fundamentally different or distinct in quality or kind

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin disparātus, past participle of disparāre, to separate : dis-, apart; see dis– + parāre, to prepare; see perə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

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Examples

  • And that includes these firefighters who paid the price and took the test and did real well and should have had the job but were stopped from getting the job because the mayor and others were afraid they would be sued for what you call disparate impact.

    CNN Transcript Jul 14, 2009 2009

  • And, in effect, what-not "in effect," really, what this Indiana law has is what we call disparate impact.

    Democracy Now! 2008

  • And, in effect, what-not "in effect," really, what this Indiana law has is what we call disparate impact.

    Democracy Now! 2008

  • And, in effect, what-not "in effect," really, what this Indiana law has is what we call disparate impact.

    Democracy Now! 2008

  • And, in effect, what-not “in effect, †really, what this Indiana law has is what we call disparate impact.

    Democracy Now! 2008

  • And, in effect, what-not “in effect, †really, what this Indiana law has is what we call disparate impact.

    Democracy Now! 2008

  • And, in effect, what-not "in effect," really, what this Indiana law has is what we call disparate impact.

    Democracy Now! 2008

  • And, in effect, what-not "in effect," really, what this Indiana law has is what we call disparate impact.

    Democracy Now! 2008

  • And, in effect, what-not "in effect," really, what this Indiana law has is what we call disparate impact.

    Democracy Now! 2008

  • Bloomberg News Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Minneapolis Fed, echoed Mr. Fisher's praise for the "outstanding chairman," noting in a brief written response to a question from The Wall Street Journal about Mr. Bernanke's leadership that he "actively cultivates the expression of disparate views, and that dialogue leads to better monetary policy choices for the United States."

    Dissents Pose New Test for Bernanke Jon Hilsenrath 2011

Comments

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  • Just for fun

    February 15, 2010