make unable to perform a certain action
"disable this command on your computer"
To render unable; to take away an ability of, as by crippling.
"The severe accident left him disabled and unable to walk again."
In plain English: To disable something means to make it stop working so that you cannot use it anymore.
"The mechanic disabled the car so they could perform repairs on the engine."
Usage: Use disable when you mean to prevent something from functioning or taking away someone's physical ability to act. Avoid confusing it with deactivate, which specifically refers to turning off a machine or system without necessarily breaking its core function.
Lacking ability; unable.
"After the accident, he was disabled from walking without assistance."
The word disable comes from combining the prefix dis- with able, meaning to make something or someone unable to function. It entered English as a direct formation of these two elements rather than being borrowed from another language.