To free something from being twisted, knotted, or entangled; to untangle or clarify something confusing.
From dis- (reverse, undo) + entangle (from en- + tangle, possibly from Scandinavian roots). Used literally for physical knots since the 1600s, and figuratively for complex ideas or relationships since the 1700s.
Shakespeare didn't use 'disentangle,' but by the time of the American Revolution, people were using it both literally (untangling rope) and metaphorically (untangling political conflicts), showing how words expand their meanings over time.
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