Disable: Switching Something Off, and a Word to Use With Care About People
To disable is to make something unable to work. Applied to technology it is entirely neutral; applied to people it needs more care than it once did.
Disable means to remove the ability to function. In technology this is routine and neutral: you disable a setting, an account or an alarm. Applied to people the word has a longer history and current guidance prefers *disabled person* to any phrasing that suggests a person was switched off.
- To make inoperative. *Disable the alarm before entering.*
- To turn off a feature. *Disable notifications.*
- To deprive of physical ability. *He was disabled by the injury.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | disable | Disable the account. |
| Adjective | disabled | A disabled person. |
| Noun | disability | A learning disability. |
| Opposite | enable | Enable the option. |
| Related | ability | Physical ability. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Disable the plugin and try again.The technical sense, completely neutral.
- The building is accessible to disabled visitors.Disabled as an adjective before a noun.
- Do not say the disabled.Using an adjective as a group noun is widely discouraged.
Two models, two ways of speaking
- Medical model — disability is an impairment in the person
- Social model — disability is created by barriers in the environment
- Disabled person — preferred by most British disability organisations, reflecting the social model
- Person with a disability — preferred by many American organisations, putting the person first
- Both are respectful; the difference is a genuine disagreement about where disability comes from
From *dis-* plus *able*. English formed it in the fifteenth century, originally meaning to make legally incapable. The technical sense of switching something off is twentieth century and now the most frequent.
Disabled or differently abled?
Most disability organisations reject euphemisms such as differently abled. Disabled is the plain and preferred word.
Disable or deactivate?
Deactivate suggests something can be reactivated. Disable can be either temporary or permanent, and is the more common technical term.