Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#DISPARAGECategory:English terms derived from Middle English#DISPARAGE disparage (noun), disparagen (verb), from Old FrenchCategory:English terms derived from Old French#DISPARAGE desparage (noun), desparagier (verb), from des- (“dis-”) + parage (“equal rank, rank”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈpæɹɪd͡ʒ/Category:English 3-syllable words#DISPARAGECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#DISPARAGE

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#DISPARAGE
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈpæɹɪd͡ʒ/Category:English 3-syllable words#DISPARAGECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#DISPARAGE
  • (General American, Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈpɛɹɪd͡ʒ/Category:English 3-syllable words#DISPARAGECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#DISPARAGE

Noun

disparage (uncountable)Category:English lemmas#DISPARAGECategory:English nouns#DISPARAGECategory:English uncountable nouns#DISPARAGECategory:English uncountable nouns#DISPARAGECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#DISPARAGECategory:Pages with entries#DISPARAGECategory:Pages with 2 entries#DISPARAGE

1. (obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#DISPARAGE) Inequality in marriage; marriage with an inferior.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     But, for his meane degree might not aspire / To match so high, her friends with counsell sage / Dissuaded her from such a disparage […]

     Category:English terms with quotations#DISPARAGE

Verb

disparage (third-person singular simple present disparages, present participle disparaging, simple past and past participle disparaged)Category:English lemmas#DISPARAGECategory:English verbs#DISPARAGECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#DISPARAGECategory:Pages with entries#DISPARAGECategory:Pages with 2 entries#DISPARAGE

1. (obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#DISPARAGE) To match unequally; to degrade or dishonor.
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; Charles Cowden Clarke, editor, The Canterbury Tales of Chaucer. […], 2nd edition, volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), Edinburgh: James Nichol; London: James Nisbet & Co.; Dublin: W. Robertson, 1860, →OCLC:

     Alas! that any of my nation
     Should ever so foul disparaged be.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

     Category:Middle English terms with quotations#DISPARAGECategory:Requests for translations of Middle English quotations#DISPARAGE

2. To dishonor by a comparison with what is inferior; to lower in rank or estimation by actions or words; to speak slightingly of; to depreciate; to undervalue.

   Synonyms: denigrate, belittle, vilipend; see also Thesaurus:demean, Thesaurus:trivialize

   • August 30, 1706, Francis Atterbury, a sermon preach'd in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, at the funeral of Mr. Tho. Bennet

     those forbidding appearances which sometimes disparage the actions of men sincerely pious

   • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes:

     Thou durst not thus disparage glorious arms.

     Category:English terms with quotations#DISPARAGE

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3. To ridicule, mock, discredit.

   Synonyms: befool, excoriate, lampoon, scorn; see also Thesaurus:mock

   • 1878, Mrs. Forrest-Grant, Riversdale Court: A Novel:

     Had he disparaged my personal appearance I should in all probability have laughed at him with lively indifference

     Category:English terms with quotations#DISPARAGE

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Further reading

• “disparage”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “disparage”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “disparage”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Etymology 1

From Old FrenchCategory:Middle English terms borrowed from Old French#DISPARAGECategory:Middle English terms derived from Old French#DISPARAGE desparage; equivalent to dis- +‎ parageCategory:Middle English terms prefixed with dis-#PARAGE.

Etymology 2

From Old FrenchCategory:Middle English terms borrowed from Old French#DISPARAGECategory:Middle English terms derived from Old French#DISPARAGE desparagier.