disposition
disposition
(dĭspə-zĭshʹən) noun
1.
One's usual mood; temperament: a sweet disposition.
2.
a. A habitual inclination; a tendency: a disposition to disagree. b. A physical property or tendency: a swelling with a disposition to rupture.
3. Arrangement, positioning, or distribution: a cheerful disposition of colors and textures; a convoy oriented into a north-south disposition.
4. A final settlement: disposition of the deceased's property.
5. An act of disposing of; a bestowal or transfer to another.
6. a. The power or liberty to control, direct, or dispose. b. Management; control.
[Middle English disposicioun, from Old French disposition, from Latin dispositiō, dispositiōn-, from dispositus past participle of dispōnere, to dispose. See
dispose.]
Synonyms:
disposition, temperament, character, personality, nature. These nouns refer to the combination of qualities that identify a person. Disposition is approximately equivalent to prevailing frame of mind or spirit: "A patronizing disposition always has its meaner side" (George Eliot). Temperament applies broadly to the sum of physical, emotional, and intellectual characteristics that affect or determine a person's actions and reactions: "Her highly strung temperament made her uncertain . . . capricious . . . enchanting" (George Bernard Shaw). Character especially emphasizes moral and ethical qualities: "Education has for its object the formation of character" (Herbert Spencer). Personality is the sum of distinctive traits that give a person individuality: "The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed" (Carl Jung). Nature denotes native or inherent qualities: "It is my habit,I hope I may say, my nature,to believe the best of people" (George W. Curtis).