disco

English Online Dictionary. What means disco‎? What does disco mean?

English

Etymology 1

From a shortening of discotheque, from French discothèque.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪskəʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪskoʊ/
• Rhymes: -ɪskəʊ
• Hyphenation: dis‧co

Noun

disco (countable and uncountable, plural discos)

1. (countable, slightly dated) Clipping of discotheque (“nightclub for dancing”).

   Synonyms: club, nightclub
2. (uncountable, music) A genre of dance music that was popular in the 1970s, characterized by elements of soul music with a strong Latin-American beat and often accompanied by pulsating lights.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Cebuano: disko
• → Esperanto: diskoo
• → Dutch: disco
• → Polish: disco
• → Romanian: disco
• → Swahili: disko
• → Tagalog: disko
• → Turkish: disko

Translations

Verb

disco (third-person singular simple present discos, present participle discoing, simple past and past participle discoed)

1. (intransitive) To dance disco-style dances.
2. (intransitive) To go to discotheques.

Etymology 2

Clipping of discovery

Noun

disco (plural discos)

1. (US, law, informal) discovery (pre-trial phase in which evidence is gathered)

2. (US, law, informal) discovery (materials revealed to the opposing party during the pre-trial phase in which evidence is gathered)

Anagrams

• Dosci, sodic

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈdis.ku]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [ˈdis.ko]

Noun

disco f (plural discos)

1. clipping of discoteca

Derived terms

• música disco

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English disco. Equivalent to a shortening of discotheek.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɪs.koː/
• Hyphenation: dis‧co

Noun

disco m (plural disco's, diminutive discootje n)

1. (countable) a discotheque, a nightclub

   Synonym: discotheek

2. (uncountable) Disco (genre of dance music)

Derived terms

• discobal
• discodip
• discolamp
• discomuziek
• discozwemmen

Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdisko/, [ˈdis̠ko̞]
• Rhymes: -isko

Noun

disco

1. alternative form of disko

Declension

French

Noun

disco m or f (plural discos)

1. disco (music genre)
2. disco (dance)
3. (obsolete) disco; discotheque

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin discus. Doublet of desco, which was inherited.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdis.ko/
• Rhymes: -isko
• Hyphenation: dì‧sco

Noun

disco m (plural dischi)

1. disc, disk
2. (anatomy) disc

   Synonym: disco intervertebrale

3. (athletics) discus

Related terms

Anagrams

• scodi, sdico

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈdɪs.koː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈd̪is.ko]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *diskō, from earlier *dikskō, from Proto-Indo-European *di-dḱ-ské-ti, a reduplicated durative, inchoative and suffixed verb from the root *deḱ- (“to take”). From the same root as doceō; unrelated to discipulus.

Cognates include Ancient Greek δέχομαι (dékhomai), whereas δαῆναι (daênai) is attributed to another root, *dens-, together with δεδαώς (dedaṓs), δήνεα (dḗnea) and διδάσκω (didáskō).

Verb

discō (present infinitive discere, perfect active didicī, supine discitum); third conjugation

1. (transitive) to learn

   Synonyms: capiō, percipiō, concipiō, comprehendō, intellegō, cognoscō, noscō, agnoscō, animadvertō, calleō, sciō

   artem discere ― to learn an art

   aliquid ab aliquo discere ― to learn something from someone

2. (transitive) (Late Latin) to teach

   Synonyms: ērudiō, ēducō, doceō, ēdoceō, īnstruō, imbuō, fingō

3. (drama, transitive) to study, practice

   Synonym: studeō

Conjugation

Derived terms

• dēdiscō
• ēdiscō

Descendants

• → Proto-Brythonic: *dɨskɨd
  • Breton: deskiñ
  • Cornish: dyski
  • Welsh: dysgu

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

discō

1. dative/ablative singular of discus

References

• “disco”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “disco”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• disco in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2025), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication
• disco in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[4], London: Macmillan and Co.

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English disco.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdis.kɔ/
• Rhymes: -iskɔ
• Syllabification: dis‧co

Noun

disco n (indeclinable)

1. disco, disco music
2. (slang) dance party

   Synonym: dyskoteka

Further reading

• disco in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• disco in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -isku, (Portugal, Rio de Janeiro) -iʃku
• Hyphenation: dis‧co

Noun

disco m (plural discos)

1. disc (a thin, flat, circular plate)
2. (athletics) discus
3. disc, Frisbee

   Synonym: frisbee

4. (uncountable) disco (type of music)

Derived terms

• toca-discos

Related terms

• disquete

Etymology 2

Verb

disco

1. first-person singular present indicative of discar

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English disco or French disco.

Adjective

disco m or f or n (indeclinable)

1. disco

Declension

Noun

disco m (uncountable)

1. disco (music genre)

Declension

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdisko/ [ˈd̪is.ko]
• Rhymes: -isko
• Syllabification: dis‧co

Etymology 1

Short for discoteca.

Noun

disco f (plural discos)

1. club, discotheque

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin discus, from Ancient Greek δίσκος (dískos). Compare English disc, dish, discus and dais.

Noun

disco m (plural discos)

1. disc, disk
2. phonograph record or disc
3. rotary dial
4. (athletics) discus

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• → Basque: disko

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

disco

1. first-person singular present indicative of discar

Related terms

Further reading

• “disco”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Alternative forms

• disko

Noun

disco n or c

1. (countable, neuter) a disco, a discotheque

   Synonym: diskotek

2. (uncountable, common) disco; a type of music

   Synonyms: discomusik, diskomusik

Declension

Related terms

• diskotek

References

• disco in Svensk ordbok (SO)