disband

Etymology

Attested since the 1590s, from Middle French desbander (Modern French débander), from des- (English dis-) + bande (English band), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie”). Surface analysis dis- + band.

verb

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To break up or (cause to) cease to exist; to disperse.
    The president wanted to disband the scandal-plagued agency.
    I used to be in a punk band, but we disbanded in the early 1980s.
    The British Transport Commission, which was disbanded under the 1962 Transport Act that created the British Railways Board, had been established by Clement Attlee's Labour government at nationalisation 14 years earlier. March 8 2023, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 53
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To loose the bands of; to set free.
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To divorce.

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/disband), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.