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Situation vs Disposition - What's the difference?

situation | disposition | Related terms |

As nouns the difference between situation and disposition

is that situation is the way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings while disposition is the arrangement or placement of certain things.

As a verb disposition is

to remove or place in a different position.

situation

English

Alternative forms

* scituation

Noun

(en noun)
  • The way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.
  • * 1908 , (Kenneth Grahame), (The Wind in the Willows) :
  • ...he being naturally an underground animal by birth and breeding, the situation of Badger's house exactly suited him and made him feel at home; while the Rat, who slept every night in a bedroom the windows of which opened on a breezy river, naturally felt the atmosphere still and oppressive.
  • The place in which something is situated; a location.
  • * 1833 , Thomas Hibbert and Robert Buist, The American Flower Garden Directory , page 142:
  • [Hibíscus] speciòsus is the most splendid, and deserves a situation in every garden.
  • Position or status with regard to conditions and circumstances.
  • The combination of circumstances at a given moment; a state of affairs.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.}}
  • (UK, dated) A position of employment; a post.
  • * 1913 , , (Sons and Lovers) , Penguin 2006, page 78:
  • When he was nineteen, he suddenly left the 'Co-op' office, and got a situation in Nottingham.
  • * 1946 , Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, Milt Gabler, :
  • You take a morning paper from the top of the stack
    And read the situations from the front to the back
    The only job that's open need a man with a knack
    So put it right back in the rack Jack.
  • A difficult or unpleasant set of circumstances; a problem.
  • Boss, we've got a situation here...

    Synonyms

    * (combination of circumstances) condition, set up

    See also

    * situation comedy, sitcom

    References

    * Source for the definitions: ** Dictionary.com. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/situation] (accessed: March 10, 2007). * * *

    Anagrams

    * ----

    disposition

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The arrangement or placement of certain things.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers)
  • , chapter=5, title= A Cuckoo in the Nest , passage=The departure was not unduly prolonged.
  • Tendency or inclination under given circumstances.
  • Temperamental makeup or habitual mood.
  • *
  • He was, indeed, a lad of a remarkable disposition ; sober, discreet, and pious beyond his age...
  • Control over something.
  • (label) Transfer or relinquishment to the care or possession of another.
  • (label) Final decision or settlement.
  • (label) The destination of a patient after medical treatment such as surgery.
  • (label) The set of choirs of strings on a harpsichord.
  • Derived terms

    * dispositional * ambulatory disposition * disposition hearing * testamentary disposition

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To remove or place in a different position.