verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK:/dɪsˈbænd/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ænd
CMU ARPABET:D IH0 S B AE1 N D
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
verb
Meaning 1
To break up or (cause to) cease to exist; to disperse.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: ambitransitive
Examples
The president wanted to disband the scandal-plagued agency.
I used to be in a punk band, but we disbanded in the early 1980s.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
verb
Meaning 2
To loose the bands of; to set free.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
verb
Meaning 3
To divorce.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
verb
Meaning 4
stop functioning or cohering as a unit
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
The political wing of the party dissolved after much internal fighting
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dissolve
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: break up
5
verb
Meaning 5
cause to break up or cease to function
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
the principal disbanded the political student organization
Attested since the 1590s, from Middle French desbander (Modern French débander), from des- (English dis-) + bande (English band), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bhendh- (“to tie”). By surface analysis, dis- + band.
Across languages
Translations
32 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
حَلَّ
(ḥalla)
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Arabic:
سَرَّحَ
(sarraḥa)
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Bulgarian:
разпуска́м
(razpuskám)
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Bulgarian:
разформировам
(razformirovam)
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Chinese Mandarin:
解散
(jiěsàn)
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Czech:
rozpustit
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Danish:
afskaffe
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Danish:
nedlægge
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Dutch:
ontbinden
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Finnish:
lakkauttaa
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
French:
démanteler
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
French:
décommissionner
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
French:
dissoudre
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Galician:
disolver
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
German:
auflösen
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Hungarian:
feloszlat
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Irish:
scaoil
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Japanese:
解散する
(kaisan suru)
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Norwegian:
avskaffe
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Persian:
منحل کردن
(monhal kardan)
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Polish:
rozwiązywać
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Polish:
rozwiązać
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Portuguese:
dispersar
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Portuguese:
debandar
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Russian:
распуска́ть
(raspuskátʹ)
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Russian:
распусти́ть
(raspustítʹ)
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Russian:
расформиро́вывать
(rasformiróvyvatʹ)
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Russian:
расформирова́ть
(rasformirovátʹ)
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Spanish:
desmantelar
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Spanish:
disolver
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Spanish:
desbandar
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
Swedish:
upplösa
— to break up or cause to cease to exist
