- Disposition
- Disposition Dis`po*si"tion, n. [F. disposition, dispositio,
fr. disponere to dispose; dis- + ponere to place. See
{Position}, and cf. {Dispone}.]
1. The act of disposing, arranging, ordering, regulating, or
transferring; application; disposal; as, the disposition
of a man's property by will.
[1913 Webster]
Who have received the law by the disposition of angels. --Acts vii. 53. [1913 Webster]
The disposition of the work, to put all things in a beautiful order and harmony, that the whole may be of a piece. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
2. The state or the manner of being disposed or arranged; distribution; arrangement; order; as, the disposition of the trees in an orchard; the disposition of the several parts of an edifice. [1913 Webster]
3. Tendency to any action or state resulting from natural constitution; nature; quality; as, a disposition in plants to grow in a direction upward; a disposition in bodies to putrefaction. [1913 Webster]
4. Conscious inclination; propension or propensity. [1913 Webster]
How stands your disposition to be married? --Shak. [1913 Webster]
5. Natural or prevailing spirit, or temperament of mind, especially as shown in intercourse with one's fellow-men; temper of mind. ``A man of turbulent disposition.'' --Hallam. ``He is of a very melancholy disposition.'' --Shak. [1913 Webster]
His disposition led him to do things agreeable to his quality and condition wherein God had placed him. --Strype. [1913 Webster]
6. Mood; humor. [1913 Webster]
As I perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on. --Shak.
Syn: Disposal; adjustment; regulation; arrangement; distribution; order; method; adaptation; inclination; propensity; bestowment; alienation; character; temper; mood. -- {Disposition}, {Character}, {Temper}. Disposition is the natural humor of a person, the predominating quality of his character, the constitutional habit of his mind. Character is this disposition influenced by motive, training, and will. Temper is a quality of the fiber of character, and is displayed chiefly when the emotions, especially the passions, are aroused. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.