Crossword Dictionary

dissociate 

dissociate - v 
to undergo a reversible or temporary breakdown of a molecule into simpler molecules or atoms; "acids dissociate to give hydrogen ions" 

wordplays

To dissociate is to break apart from someone, such as an employee leaving a business or a spouse leaving a marriage.

Dissociate is the opposite of associate. It comes from the Latin dissociare, which means basically "to disunite." To dissociate is to stop associating with someone. If a relationship ends, the two people are dissociated from one another. When you see the word dissociate, think "break-up."

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etymology

1610s (implied in dissociated) "sever the association or connection of," especially "cut off from society," from Latin dissociatus, past participle of dissociare "to separate from companionship, disunite, set at variance," from dis- "apart" (see dis-) + sociare "to join," from socius "companion, ally," from PIE *sokw-yo-, suffixed form of root *sekw- (1) "to follow."

Attested from 1540s as a past-participle adjective meaning "separated." Dissociated in psychology (1890) was "characterized by mental disjunction," hence dissociated personality (1905) "pathological state in which two or more distinct personalities exist in the same person."

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