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disparaître
/dis.pa.ʁɛtʁ/
to disappear
Le magicien a fait disparaître la colombe.
The magician made the pigeon disappear.
general
To vanish or cease to be visible; to go out of sight.
Les nuages ont disparu avec le vent.
The clouds disappeared with the wind.
Son sourire a disparu quand il a entendu la nouvelle.
His smile disappeared when he heard the news.
Often used for objects, people, or abstract concepts that vanish from view or existence.
literary
To die or pass away (literary or poetic usage).
Son père a disparu il y a dix ans.
His father passed away ten years ago.
This usage is more common in older or poetic texts.
Collocations
disparaître sans laisser de traceto vanish without a tracedisparaître de la circulationto drop out of sightdisparaître du jour au lendemainto disappear overnight
Related Phrases
Pro Tip
Spelling Note
In modern French, the circumflex is often omitted ('disparaitre'), but 'disparaître' is still widely used and considered correct.
Gold Rule
Usage in the Past Tense
'Disparaître' is most commonly used in the past tense to describe something that has vanished.
Word Origin
From Old French 'desparoir' (to despair), from Latin 'dis-' (apart) + 'parere' (to appear). The sense of 'to disappear' emerged in the 16th century.
Usage Notes
The verb 'disparaître' is often used in the past tense to describe something that has vanished. It is more formal than 'disparaitre' (without the circumflex), which is the modern spelling in France.
Word Breakdown
dis-
apart, away
prefix-paraître
to appear
rootDictionnaire Français-Anglais