English
disport
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /dɪˈspɔːt/
  • (GA) IPA: /dəˈspɔɹt/
Verb

disport (disports, present participle disporting; past and past participle disported)

  1. (ambitransitive, reflexive, dated) To amuse oneself divertingly or playfully; in particular, to cavort or gambol#Verb|gambol.
    Synonyms: cheer, divert, enjoy, frolic
    • 1717, Alexander Pope, “The Rape of the Lock”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: Printed by W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], OCLC 43265629 ↗, canto II, page 133 ↗:
      He ſummons ſtrait his Denizens of air; / The lucid ſquadrons round the ſails repair: / [...] / Looſe to the wind their airy garments flew, / Thin glitt'ring textures of the filmy dew; / Dipt in the richeſt tincture of the skies, / Where light diſports in ever-mingling dyes#English|dies, [...]
    • 1812, Lord Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. A Romaunt, London: Printed for John Murray, […]; William Blackwood, Edinburgh; and John Cumming, Dublin; by Thomas Davison, […], OCLC 22697011 ↗, canto I, stanza IV, page 5 ↗:
      Childe Harold bask'd him in the noon-tide sun, / Disporting there like any other fly; / Nor deem'd before his little day was done / One blast might chill him into misery.
    • 1838, Martin Farquhar Tupper, “Of Rest”, in Proverbial Philosophy: A Book of Thoughts and Arguments, Originally Treated, London: Joseph Rickerby, […], OCLC 36892655 ↗, stanza 1, page 57 ↗:
      In the silent watches of the night, calm night that breedeth thoughts, / When the task-weary mind disporteth in the careless play-hours of sleep, / I dreamed; [...]
    • 1870, Walt Whitman, “Passage to India”, in Leaves of Grass […], Philadelphia, Pa.: David McKay, publisher, […], published 1892, OCLC 1514723 ↗, stanza 9, page 322 ↗:
      O soul, voyagest thou indeed on voyages like those? / Disportest thou on waters such as those?
    • 1905, William Somerset Maugham, chapter XXXVIII, in The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia, London: William Heinemann, OCLC 962027576 ↗, page 215 ↗:
      It was there [Cadiz#English|Cadiz, Spain#English|Spain] that on Sunday I had seen the populace disport itself, and it was full of life then, gay and insouciant.
Conjugation


Conjugation of disport

infinitive (to) disport
present tense past tense
1st-person singular disportdisported
2nd-person singular* disport, disportest*disported, disportedst*
3rd-person singulardisports, disporteth* disported#English|disported
plural disport
subjunctive disport
imperative disport —
participle> participlesdisportingdisported
* Archaic or obsolete.

Translations
  • French: s'amuser
  • Russian: развлека́ться
Noun

disport (plural disports)

  1. (countable, archaic) Anything which diverts one from serious matter#Noun|matters; a game#Noun|game, a pastime, a sport#Noun|sport.
  2. (uncountable, archaic) Amusement, entertainment, recreation, relaxation.
  3. (countable, obsolete) The way one carries oneself; bearing#Noun|bearing, carriage, deportment.
    • 1761, [Laurence Sterne], chapter XXII, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volume IV, London: Printed for R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], OCLC 959921526 ↗, page 143 ↗:
      [Y]et have I carried myſelf towards thee in ſuch fanciful guiſe of careleſs diſport, that right ſore am I aſhamed now to entreat thy lenity ſeriouſly— {{...}
  4. (countable, obsolete) Bearing, elevation, orientation.
    • 1662, Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World (Dialogue Two)
      ... shooting a bullet ... out of a Culverin towards the East, and afterwards another, with the same charge, and at the same elevation or disport towards the West.
  5. (uncountable, obsolete) Fun, gaiety, joy, merriment, mirth.
Translations

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