'disfigure' originates from Old French, specifically the word 'desfigurer', where the prefix 'des-' meant 'undo, reverse' and 'figurer' (from Latin 'figura') meant 'shape or form'.

'disfigure' changed from Old French 'desfigurer' and Middle English forms such as 'disfiguren' and eventually became the modern English word 'disfigure'.

Initially, it meant 'to change the shape or form (often negatively)'; over time it narrowed to the current meaning of 'to spoil or damage appearance'.