Online Etymology Dictionary

district (n.): 1610s, "territory under the jurisdiction of a lord or officer," from French district (16c.), from Medieval Latin districtus "restraining of offenders, jurisdiction," then under the feudal system "area of jurisdiction," noun use of past participle of Latin distringere "hinder, detain" (see distress). Used vaguely of "any tract of land" from 1712. District attorney attested by 1789, American English.
distrust: early 15c. (v.); 1510s (n.), from dis- + trust. "The etymologically correct form is mistrust, in which both elements are Teutonic" [Klein]. Related: Distrusted; distrusting; distrustful; distrustfully; distrustfulness.
disturb (v.): c. 1300, "to stop or hinder," from Old French destorber (Old North French distourber) and directly from Latin disturbare "throw into disorder," from dis- "completely" (see dis-) + turbare "to disorder, disturb," from turba "turmoil" (see turbid).

Meaning "to frighten" is late 13c.; that of "to stir up, agitate" is c. 1300. Related: Disturbed; disturbing; disturbingly. Middle English also had distourbler (n.) "one who disturbs or incites" (late 14c.).
disturbance (n.): late 13c., "mental distress," from Old French destorbance (12c., Old North French distorbance), from destourber, from Latin disturbare (see disturb). Meaning "public disturbance" is c. 1300; that of "destruction of peace or unity" is late 14c.
disturbed (adj.): past participle adjective from disturb. Meaning "emotionally or mentally unstable" is from 1904.
disunion (n.): late 15c., from dis- + union.
disunite (v.): 1560s (implied in disunited); see dis- + unite. Related: Disuniting.
disuse (n.): c. 1400, see dis- + use (n.).
disuse (v.): c. 1400, "misuse, pervert;" mid-15c., "become unaccustomed," from or on analogy of Old French desuser, from des- "not" (see dis-) + user "use" (see use (v.)). Related: Disused.
ditch (n.): Old English dic "ditch, dike," a variant of dike (q.v.). Last ditch (1715) refers to the last line of military defenses.
ditch (v.): late 14c., "surround with a ditch; dig a ditch;" from ditch (n.). Meaning "to throw into a ditch" is from 1816, hence sense of "abandon, discard," first recorded 1899 in American English. Of aircraft, by 1941. Related: Ditched; ditching.
ditheism (n.): "belief in the existence of two gods," 1670s, from di- (1) + theism.
dither (v.): 1640s, "to quake, tremble," phonetic variant of Middle English didderen (late 14c.), which is of uncertain origin. The sense of "vacillate, be anxious" is from 1819. Related: Dithered; dithering.
dithyramb (n.): c. 1600, from Latin dithyrambus, from Greek dithyrambos, which is of unknown origin, perhaps a pre-Hellenic loan-word. A wild choric hymn, originally in honor of Dionysus or Bacchus. Related: Dithyrambic.
ditto: 1620s, Tuscan dialectal ditto "(in) the said (month or year)," literary Italian detto, past participle of dire "to say," from Latin dicere (see diction).

Originally used in Italian to avoid repetition of month names in a series of dates; generalized meaning of "same as above" first recorded in English 1670s. Dittohead, self-description of followers of U.S. radio personality Rush Limbaugh, attested by 1995. dittoship is from 1869.
ditty (n.): "short song," c. 1300, from Old French ditie "composition, poem, treatise," from Latin dictatum "thing dictated," neuter past participle of dictare "dictate" (see dictate (v.)).
ditty bag (n.): 1850s nautical slang, perhaps from British naval phrase commodity bag.
ditzy (adj.): also ditsy, "stupid, scatterbrained" (especially of women), by 1973, U.S. slang, of unknown origin; one guess is that it is related to earlier African-American vernacular dicty (1926) "conceited, snobbish," also of unknown origin, but the sense is very difficult. The noun ditz (1982) appears to be a back-formation.
diuresis (n.): medical Latin, from Greek diourein "to urinate" (see diuretic) + -esis.
diuretic: c. 1400 (adjective and noun), from Old French diuretique, from Late Latin diureticus, from Greek diouretikos "prompting urine," from diourein "urinate," from dia "through" (see dia-) + ourein "urinate," from ouron (see urine).
diurnal (adj.): late 14c., from Late Latin diurnalis "daily," from Latin dies "day" + -urnus, an adjectival suffix denoting time (compare hibernus "wintery"). Dies "day" is from PIE root *dyeu- "to shine" (source also of Sanskrit diva "by day," Welsh diw, Breton deiz "day;" Armenian tiw; Lithuanian diena; Old Church Slavonic dini, Polish dzień, Russian den), literally "to shine" (compare Greek delos "clear;" Latin deus, Sanskrit deva "god," literally "shining one;" Avestan dava- "spirit, demon;" Lithuanian devas, Old Norse tivar "gods;" Old English Tig, genitive Tiwes, see Tuesday).
diva (n.): "distinguished woman singer, prima donna," 1883, from Italian diva "goddess, fine lady," from Latin diva "goddess," fem. of divus "divine (one);" see divine (adj.).
divagate (v.): 1590s, from Latin divagatus, past participle of divagari "to wander about," from di(s)- "apart" (see dis-) + vagari "to wander, ramble" (see vague). Related: Divagated; divagating.
divagation (n.): 1550s, noun of action from Latin divagatus, past participle of divagari (see divagate).
divan (n.): 1580s, "Oriental council of state," from Turkish divan, from Arabic diwan, from Persian devan "bundle of written sheets, small book, collection of poems" (as in the "Divan i-Hafiz"), related to debir "writer."

Sense evolved through "book of accounts," to "office of accounts," "custom house," "council chamber," then to "long, cushioned seat," such as are found along the walls in Middle Eastern council chambers (see couch). The sofa/couch sense was taken into English 1702; the "book of poems" sense in 1823.
dive (v.): mid-13c., from Old English dufan "to dive, duck, sink" (intransitive, class II strong verb; past tense deaf, past participle dofen) and dyfan "to dip, submerge" (weak, transitive), from Proto-Germanic verb *dubijan, from PIE *dheub- "deep, hollow" (see deep (adj.)). Past tense dove is a later formation, perhaps on analogy of drive/drove. Related: Diving. Dive bomber attested by 1939.
dive (n.): c. 1700, from dive (v.). Sense of "disreputable bar" is first recorded American English 1871, perhaps because they were usually in basements, and going into one was both a literal and figurative "diving."
diver (n.): c. 1500, agent noun from dive (v.).
diverge (v.): 1660s, from Modern Latin divergere "go in different directions," from dis- "apart" (see dis-) + vergere "to bend, turn" (see verge (v.)). Originally a term in optics; the figurative sense is 19c. Related: Diverged; diverging.
divergence (n.): 1650s, from Modern Latin divergentia, from divergens (see diverge). Related: Divergency.
divergent (adj.): 1690s, from Modern Latin divergentem (nominative divergens), present participle of divergere (see diverge). Related: Divergently.
divers (adj.): mid-13c., "not alike" (sense now in diverse); late 13c., "separate, distinct; various," from Old French divers (11c.) "different, various, singular, odd, exceptional, wretched, treacherous, perverse," from Latin diversus "turned different ways," in Late Latin "various," past participle of divertere (see divert).

Sense of "several, numerous" is recorded from c. 1300, referring "originally and in form to the variety of objects; but, as variety implies number, becoming an indefinite numeral word expressing multiplicity" [OED], a sense that emerged by c. 1400.
diverse (adj.): c. 1300, spelling variant of divers (q.v.), perhaps by analogy with converse, traverse, etc. In some cases directly from Latin diversus, and since c. 1700 restricted to the meaning "different in character or quality." Related: Diversely.
diversification (n.): c. 1600, noun of action from Medieval Latin diversificare (see diversify). Economic sense is from 1939.
diversify (v.): late 15c., from Old French diversifier (13c.) "to make diverse," from Medieval Latin diversificare, from Latin diversus (see diverse). Economic sense is from 1939. Related: Diversified; diversifying.
diversion (n.): early 15c., "diverse condition;" c. 1600 "act of diverting," from Middle French diversion, from Late Latin diversionem (nominative diversio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin divertere (see divert).

Sense of "amusement, entertainment" is first recorded 1640s. Hence, divertimento (1823), from the Italian form; originally "a musical composition designed primarily for entertainment."
diversity (n.): mid-14c., "quality of being diverse," mostly in a neutral sense, from Old French diversité (12c.) "difference, diversity, unique feature, oddness:" also "wickedness, perversity," from Latin diversitatem (nominative diversitas) "contrariety, contradiction, disagreement;" also, as a secondary sense, "difference, diversity," from diversus "turned different ways" (in Late Latin "various"), past participle of divertere (see divert).

Negative meaning, "being contrary to what is agreeable or right; perversity, evil" existed in English from late 15c. but was obsolete from 17c. Diversity as a virtue in a nation is an idea from the rise of modern democracies in the 1790s, where it kept one faction from arrogating all power (but this was not quite the modern sense, as ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, etc. were not the qualities in mind):
The dissimilarity in the ingredients which will compose the national government, and still more in the manner in which they will be brought into action in its various branches, must form a powerful obstacle to a concert of views in any partial scheme of elections. There is sufficient diversity in the state of property, in the genius, manners, and habits of the people of the different parts of the Union, to occasion a material diversity of disposition in their representatives towards the different ranks and conditions in society. ["The Federalist," No. 60, Feb. 26, 1788 (Hamilton)]
Specific focus (in a positive sense) on race, gender, etc. is from 1992.
divert (v.): early 15c., from Middle French divertir (14c.), from Latin divertere "to turn in different directions," blended with devertere "turn aside," from dis- "aside" and de- "from" + vertere "to turn" (see versus). Related: Diverted; diverting.
diverticulum (n.): "blind tube" (anatomical), 1819, Modern Latin, from Latin deverticulum "a bypath," from devertere "to turn aside" (see divert).
Dives: traditional name for a rich man, late 14c., from Latin dives "rich (man);" see Dis. Used in Luke xvi in Vulgate and commonly mistaken as the proper name of the man in the parable. Related to divus "divine," and originally meaning "favored by the gods" (see divine (adj.)).
divest (v.): 1560s, devest (modern spelling is c. 1600), from Middle French devester "strip of possessions," from Old French desvestir, from des- "away" (see dis-) + vestir "to clothe" (see vest (v.)).

The figurative sense of "strip of possessions" is earliest in English; reflexive sense of "to strip oneself of" is from c. 1600. Economic sense (implied in divestment) is from 1955. Related: Divested; divesting.
divestiture (n.): c. 1600, from divest on analogy of investiture. Economics sense is from 1961.
divide (v.): early 14c., from Latin dividere "to force apart, cleave, distribute," from dis- "apart" (see dis-) + -videre "to separate," from PIE root *weidh- "to separate" (see widow; also see with).

Mathematical sense is from early 15c. Divide and rule (c. 1600) translates Latin divide et impera, a maxim of Machiavelli. Related: Divided; dividing.
divide (n.): 1640s, "act of dividing," from divide (v.). Meaning "watershed, separation between river valleys" is first recorded 1807, American English.
dividend (n.): late 15c., from Middle French dividende "a number divided by another," from Latin dividendum "thing to be divided," neuter gerundive of dividere (see divide). Mathematical sense is from 1540s. Meaning "portion of interest on a loan, stock, etc." is from 1620s. Related: Dividends.
divider (n.): 1520s, agent noun from divide (v.). Meaning "partition or screen," especially in a room, is from 1959.
divination (n.): late 14c., from Old French divination (13c.), from Latin divinationem (nominative divinatio) "the power of foreseeing, prediction," noun of action from past participle stem of divinare, literally "to be inspired by a god" (see divine (adj.)).
divine (adj.): c. 1300, from Old French devin (12c.), from Latin divinus "of a god," from divus "a god," related to deus "god, deity" (see Zeus). Weakened sense of "excellent" had evolved by late 15c.
divine (v.): "to conjure, to guess," originally "to make out by supernatural insight," mid-14c., from Old French deviner, from Vulgar Latin *devinare, dissimilated from *divinare, from Latin divinus (see divine (adj.)), which also meant "soothsayer." Related: Divined; diviner; divining. Divining rod (or wand) attested from 1650s.
divine (n.): c. 1300, "soothsayer," from Old French devin, from noun use of Latin divinus "of a god" (see divine (adj.)). Meaning "ecclesiastic, theologian" is from late 14c.