different between disable vs deface

English

Etymology

dis- +? able

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): [d?s?e?b??]
• Rhymes: -e?b?l

Verb

disable (third-person singular simple present disables, present participle disabling, simple past and past participle disabled)

1. (transitive) To render unable; to take away an ability of, as by crippling.
2. (chiefly of a person) To impair the physical or mental abilities of; to cause a serious, permanent injury.

   Falling off the horse disabled him.

3. (chiefly electronics, computing) To deactivate, to make inoperational (especially of a function of an electronic or mechanical device).

   The pilot had to disable the autopilot of his airplane.

Synonyms

• unable (non-standard), see also Thesaurus:disable
• deactivate

Antonyms

• enable

Derived terms

• disablement

Translations

Adjective

disable (comparative more disable, superlative most disable)

1. (obsolete) Lacking ability; unable.

   • Our disable and unactive force.

Anagrams

• baldies, bidales, diables, labside

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?sebl/, /?d??ebl/

Verb

disable (third-person singular present disables, present participle disablein, past disablet, past participle disablet)

1. disable, disqualify

English

Etymology

From Middle English defacen, from Old French defacier, desfacier (“to mutilate, destroy, disfigure”), from des- (“away from”) (see dis-) + Vulgar Latin *facia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??fe?s/, /di??fe?s/
• Rhymes: -e?s

Verb

deface (third-person singular simple present defaces, present participle defacing, simple past and past participle defaced)

1. To damage or vandalize something, especially a surface, in a visible or conspicuous manner.
   • 1869: George Eliot, The Legend of Jubal

     That wondrous frame where melody began / Lay as a tomb defaced that no eye cared to scan.

2. To void or devalue; to nullify or degrade the face value of.

   He defaced the I.O.U. notes by scrawling "void" over them.

   • 1776: Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

     One-and-twenty worn and defaced shillings, however, were considered as equivalent to a guinea, which perhaps, indeed, was worn and defaced too, but seldom so much so.

3. (heraldry, flags) To alter a coat of arms or a flag by adding an element to it.

   You get the Finnish state flag by defacing the national flag with the state coat of arms placed in the middle of the cross.

Synonyms

• (damage in a conspicuous way): disfigure, mar, obliterate, scar, vandalize
• (degrade the face value): cancel, devalue, nullify, void

Derived terms

• defacement

Translations

See also

• efface