Dispel is from Latin dispellere ('to drive apart'), from dis- ('apart') + pellere ('to drive, push'), from PIE *pelh₂- ('to drive, strike'). The ancestry passes through Latin dispellere, Latin pellere, and Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂-. The prefix dis- often marks separation, reversal, or negation in Latin and English formations, helping to explain the word's surface structure. In present use as a verb, it means "to drive away or cause to vanish, as doubts or fears", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include expel, repel, compel, propel, and impel; derived forms include dispeller.