To remove the qualities of paradise from something; to deprive of heavenly or ideal qualities.
From dis- (prefix meaning 'remove' or 'reverse') + paradise (from Greek paradeisos, meaning 'enclosed garden' or 'heaven'). The word emerged in Middle English as a religious or literary term to describe the loss of Eden-like perfection.
This word captures a profound medieval anxiety about losing perfection—it's what theologians used to describe humanity's fall from grace, and we still use this concept today when we talk about 'ruining' natural paradises through pollution or development.
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