disown
/dɪsˈoʊn/verb
disown is spelled D-I-S-O-W-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 40,703rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, disown means “To refuse to own, or to refuse to acknowledge one’s own” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in disown?
| Letters | 6: D-I-S-O-W-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 40,703rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is disown?
Disown appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 40,703rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce disown?
- UK /dɪsˈəʊn/
- US /dɪsˈoʊn/
Disown has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-disown.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with disown?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as disown from its last stressed vowel (/oʊn/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of disown
- disowns present, singular, he/she/it
- disowning participle, present
- disowned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does disown mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To refuse to own, or to refuse to acknowledge one’s own.
Lord Capulet and his wife threatened to disown their daughter Juliet if she didn’t go through with marrying Count Paris.
- 2
To repudiate any connection to; to renounce.
- 3
To detach (a job or process) so that it can continue to run even when the user who launched it ends his/her login session.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Disown in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to refuse to own:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | renier |
| German | verstoßen, verleugnen, ableugnen, enteignen, zurückweisen, sich distanzieren |
| Portuguese | renegar |
| Spanish | renegar, repudiar, desafijar (disused) |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does disown come from?
From dis- + own.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).