disparate

Definition

Composed of inherently different or distinct elements; incongruous.

Etymology

First attested in 1586; either borrowed from Middle French desparat or directly from Latin disparātus, perfect passive participle of disparō (“to divide”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from dis- (“apart”) + parō (“to arrange”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (“two”) and the root *per- (“carry forth”).

Example Sentences

• "The board of the company was decidedly disparate, with no two members from the same social or economic background."
• "The London Transport Museum was established, from disparate collections, at Covent Garden in 1980."
• "Although third-rail operation in the region dates back more than a century, it was in the 1970s that tunnels under Liverpool's city centre opened to bring together previously disparate routes."