Disaster

I/we go through life speaking, hearing or reading words without a thought as to their origin.

One such word in the English language is "Disaster".  It developed in the days when disastrous events were thought by some to be caused by an ill alignment of the Stars. 

Disaster =  negative or ill stars.

(See below for the origins of dis and aster).

(I learned this from a Public Radio programme about disasters. The person being interviewed pointed out that William Shakespeare challenged this notion).

Men at some time are masters of their fates.

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars

But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

(Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 6)

Please reply on the blog, or on Face Book with some other dis words which reverse, modify, or cast a negative light on the original word.

Here are a few starters:

grace     appoint   inter

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•      1. DIS 

a Latin prefix meaning “apart,” “asunder,” “away,” “utterly,” or having a privative, negative, or reversing force 

2. ASTER 

Etymology[

From Latin aster, from Ancient Greek ἀστήρ (astḗr).

Noun

aster (plural asters) 

 Meaning: a Star.

Derived terms "Asteroid"

Related terms astro