disposition
noun
Disposition — the final settling of a matter, or the temperament with which one meets the world
Definition
The act or means of getting rid of something
In depth
Disposition, in this sense, names the act or means of getting rid of something, closely related to disposal, particularly in legal contexts concerning the final settlement of property or a case. The word carries a separate and far more common meaning as well, describing a person's natural temperament or characteristic mood, the underlying tendency that shapes how they meet the world.
Origin
The word descends from Latin dispositio, an arranging or setting in order, from disponere, to arrange. Both modern senses trace back to this root idea of arrangement: the legal sense names the final arrangement of a matter, while the psychological sense names the underlying arrangement of a person's temperament, the settled inner order from which their character consistently emerges.
Usage examples
"The court ordered the disposition of the contested property after years of legal wrangling."
"She had, by nature, a sunny disposition that even the worst news rarely seemed to dim for long."
"The committee's final disposition of the case satisfied neither side, which some took as a sign it had been fairly decided."
How to use it
Writers must rely heavily on context to disambiguate disposition's two quite distinct senses, the legal act of disposing of something and the far more common sense of personal temperament; the two meanings rarely cause confusion in practice, since their typical contexts differ so sharply.
Related concepts
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