disparage 復習

　Two former US intelligence chiefs say Donald Trump's stance on Russian meddling in last year's presidential election is putting the US at risk.
　The US president sparked uproar by suggesting he believed Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin when he said there had been no interference.
　The two leaders briefly discussed the allegations at an Asia-Pacific summit.
　US intelligence has long concluded Russia tried to sway the vote in Mr Trump's favour. …
　Mr Trump also disparaged key figures in the US intelligence community who concluded in January that Russian meddling had taken place, including former national intelligence chief James Clapper, ex-CIA director John Brennan and sacked FBI chief James Comey, whom he called "political hacks”.(Skip the rest)

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41962023

　今回取り上げる語は、disparage /dɪspˈærɪdʒ/ です。

　まず意味を確認します。『ジーニアス英和大辞典』(大修館)をみると、「(1)…を見くびる ;…をけなす、(2)…の信用を落とす、評判を悪くする」とあります。今回の記事では、「主要人物を見くびっていた」と訳をつけられます。

　次に語源を確認します。Oxford Dictionary of English (2nd Edition Revised)をみると、“late Middle English (in the sense ‘marry someone of unequal rank’, also ‘bring discredit on’): from Old French desparagier ‘marry someone of unequal rank’, based on Latin par ‘equal’ ”とあります。ここか読み取ると、「身分の低い人と結婚させる」の意から「品格が落ちる」へと変遷し、この語の意味になったと考えられます。

　最後に派生語を確認します。この語には、disparagement 「軽蔑、不名誉の原因」、disparaging 「けなした、蔑んだ」、disparagingly 「軽蔑して、けなして」などがありました。(OkaUchi)