Added 9 October 2026
perturb
/pəˈtɜːb/ verb
Latin root: perturbāre Wiktionary
verb Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about perturb at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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Disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed.
She was rather perturbed by the news that her father was seriously ill
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Disturb or interfere with the usual path of an electron or atom.
The electrons were perturbed by the passing ion
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Cause a celestial body to deviate from a theoretically regular orbital motion, especially as a result of interposed or extraordinary gravitational pull.
The orbits of these stars were perturbed by the passings of a comet
Origin
From Late Middle English perturben (“to disturb (someone) mentally, disquiet; to cause disorder to (something), confuse; to hinder (something)”), from Old French perturber, and from its etymon Latin perturbāre, the present active infinitive of perturbō (“to confuse; to alarm, disturb, trouble, perturb”), from per- (intensifying prefix) + turbō (“to agitate, disturb, unsettle, perturb; to upset”) (from turba (“disorder, disturbance, turmoil”) (possibly from Ancient Greek τῠ́ρβη (tŭ́rbē, “confusion, disorder, tumult”), either from Pre-Greek, or Proto-Indo-European *(s)twerH- (“to agitate, stir up; to urge on, propel”)) + -ō (suffix forming infinitives of regular first-conjugation verbs)).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)