'disprove' originates from Latin elements, specifically the prefix 'dis-' and the verb 'probare', where 'dis-' meant 'apart, away, not' and 'probare' meant 'to test, to prove'.

'disprove' was formed in English by adding the negative prefix 'dis-' to 'prove' (Old French 'prover' < Latin 'probare'); the combination developed in Middle English and eventually became the modern English 'disprove'.

Initially it meant 'to show that something cannot be proved or to demonstrate the opposite', and over time it has come to mean 'to show that something is false'—a meaning that has largely remained consistent.