disinter
Definitions
To dig up something, especially a buried body, from the ground.
掘出，挖出（尤指从地里掘出埋葬的尸体）。
(figurative) To bring something hidden or forgotten back into view.
（比喻）发掘，使重见天日（把隐藏或被遗忘之物重新揭出）。
Root Breakdown
Root-deriveddis- (reverse, undo) + inter (to put into the earth = to bury). Inter itself is in- (in) + terr (earth, from terra) — to place a body 'in the ground.' So disinter is to reverse a burial: to dig the body back out. Figuratively, to disinter an old scandal is to dig it up from where it lay buried.
Root terr still carries 7 more wordsWhy It Means This
Disinter is built on its quieter opposite, inter ('to bury,' literally 'to put in the earth'). The dis- reverses it: un-bury, dig back out. Knowing this pair makes both words click — you inter a body to lay it to rest, and you disinter it (often by court order, or to move a grave) to bring it back up. The figurative sense follows the same motion: disinterring old secrets means dragging them out of the ground they were buried in.
Example Sentences
- 1.
Investigators got permission to disinter the body for fresh tests.
- 2.
The biography disinters scandals the family had long hidden.
Easily Confused
disinter vs inter — They are exact opposites built on the same root. inter = put a body into the earth (bury); disinter = take it back out (the dis- reverses it). Also note disinter is unrelated to disinterested ('impartial'), which comes from interest, not from terra.