dispatch
/dɪˈspæt͡ʃ/ verb, noun
Forms dispatches dispatching dispatched depeche despatch
- verb (transitive) To send (a shipment) with promptness.
- verb (transitive) To send (a person) away hastily.
- verb (transitive) To send (an important official message) promptly, by means of a diplomat or military officer.
- verb (transitive) To send (a journalist) to a place in order to report.
- verb (transitive) To dispose of speedily, as business; to execute quickly; to make a speedy end of; to finish; to perform.
- verb (transitive) To eat, especially quickly.
- verb (transitive) To rid; to free.
- verb (transitive) To destroy (someone or something) quickly and efficiently.
- noun A message sent quickly, as a shipment, a prompt settlement of a business, or an important official message sent by a diplomat, government official, military officer, etc.
- noun The act of doing something quickly. “We must act with dispatch in this matter.”
- noun A mission by an emergency response service, typically involving attending to an emergency in the field.
- noun (computing) The passing on of a message for further processing, especially through a dispatch table.
- noun (obsolete) A dismissal.
Synonyms
expedite destroy kill make haste send haste hurry rapidity despatch communique shipment expedition expeditiousness send off discharge complete murder slay hit bump off off polish off remove
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish despachar and/or Italian dispacciare. Further etymology is uncertain. For first element des-, see dis-. Second element probably from either Vulgar Latin *pactāre (“to fasten"”), *pactiare or Latin -pedicāre (“to entrap, shackle”), from pedica, from pēs. Ultimately related to impeach through shared Latin root. The first known use in writing (in the past tense, spelled as dispached) is by Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall in 1517. This would be unusually early for a borrowing from a Romance language other than French, but Tunstall had studied in Italy and was Commissioner to Spain, so this word may have been borrowed through diplomatic circles. The alternative spelling despatch was introduced in Samuel Johnson's dictionary, probably by accident.
Compare typologically deliver (for the meaning to bring or transport) (< Latin dē- + līberō).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To dispose of speedily, as business; to execute quickly; to make a speedy end of; to finish; to perform.
- verb To rid; to free. [Obs.]
- verb To make haste; to conclude an affair; to finish a matter of business.
- noun The act of sending a message or messenger in haste or on important business.
Etymology [OF. despeechier, F. dépêcher; prob. from pref. des- (L. dis-) + (assumed) LL. pedicare to place obstacles in the way, fr. L. pedica fetter, fr. pes, pedis, foot. See Foot, and cf. Impeach, Despatch.]
Etymology [Cf. OF. despeche, F. dépêche. See Dispatch, v. t.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dispatch”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details