Disattach

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To separate or remove something from a connection or association; to detach or disengage an item from another; to take apart items that were previously joined or linked in some manner
2. To eliminate the connection between objects or entities; to part something that has been combined or fastened; to disassociate or sever ties between elements
3. To break the physical or figurative attachment between two things; to remove oneself or an object from an attached state; to dissolve the bond that holds items together

Etymology: "Disattach" is a plain formation: the prefix dis-, meaning "apart" or "reversing an action," joined to "attach." The prefix comes from Latin "dis-," which English uses to undo or separate, as in "disconnect," "dislike," and "disassemble." Attach itself came into English from Old French "atachier," meaning to fasten or fix, so "disattach" simply reverses that act: to unfasten something that was fastened on. Because the word is built on the regular pattern of dis- plus a verb, it needed no special coining and has no single inventor. Its meaning follows directly from its parts, so the sense "detach from something" is what a speaker would expect from the construction alone.

Synonyms: detach, disconnect, separate, unlink

Antonyms: attach, connect, join, link