discomposure

English

Etymology

From dis- +‎ composure.

Pronunciation

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Noun

discomposure (countable and uncountable, plural discomposures)

1. The state of being discomposed.
   • 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC:

     And now it was that I began to keep a journal of every day's employment; for, indeed, at first I was in too much hurry, and not only hurry as to labour, but in too much discomposure of mind; and my journal would have been full of many dull things[.]

   • 1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed‎^[1]:

     "The real reason is that some small element of danger is involved in our experiment, though it is not sufficient to justify the discomposure which I see upon many of your faces."

2. (obsolete) Discordance; disagreement of parts.
   • 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “IX. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:

     But this is wrought by emission , or suppression , or suffocation , of the native spirits ; and also by the disordination and discomposure of the tangible parts , and other passages of nature , and not by a conflict of heats

References

• “discomposure”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.