"Disinvite" and Uninvite": Both Spellings are Correct

choi

Max Colchester and Joanna Sugden, UK's 'Rule of Six,' Meant to Halt Virus, Spreads Social Awkwardness; British etiquette faces a test under new mandate that limits gatherings. Wall Street Journal, Sept 26, 2020, at page A1.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-k ... awkward-11601043995
(the entire paragraph 3: "Just as the British were getting used to going out again [in the Covid-19 pandemic], the government this month introduced fines for mixing in groups of more than six [persons]. The result is invited guest uninvited, secret six-only get-togethers and a debate reaching upper echelons of government over how many Brits should be allowed to mingle.  

My comment:
(a)
(i) WSJ holds the article behind paywall. There is no need to read the rest.
(ii) Colchester the English surname comes from the place of the same name
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colchester
("in the county of Essex. Colchester was the first Roman-founded Colonia [Latin noun feminine colonia is the origin of English noun colony] in Britain" / section 1 Etymology)

(b) This is the first time I see "uninvite."  Conservatives in US have lamented that students on campuses (Republicans call most colleges and media liberal) frequently protest over the prospect of conservatives invited to give a talk (eg, by a conservative group of students) or deliver commencement speech (by colleges), to have the guest speakers "disinvited."
(i) 'Disinvite' or 'Uninvite'?  Merriam-Webster.com, undated
https://www.merriam-webster.com/ ... sinvite-vs-uninvite  
• concord (n; "Everyone Agrees on the Meaning of Concord"/ First Known Use: 14th century; from Latin [noun feminine] concordia [agreement, harmony], from com- + [noun neutral] cor heart):

In the same Web page, the proper noun for the suburban town of Boston, Mass, is pronounced differently from the noun (whose pronunciation is identical to the supersonic airliner Concorde). This turns out to be true -- something I learn today (People in Massachusetts explain to me that they changed the pronunciation on their own initiative).

Concord, Massachusetts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concord,_Massachusetts  
("In 1635, a group of settlers from Britain * * * the six-square-mile purchase from [local tribe], which formed the basis of the new town, called 'Concord' in appreciation of the peaceful acquisition")
• disbelieve

believe (v; from from Old English belēfan, from be- + lȳfan, lēfan to allow, believe)
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/believe
• "no one uses disgraceful [bringing or involving disgrace] to mean ungraceful [not graceful]."
• "Other pairs have closer meanings but distinct usage: unused means 'idle' whereas disused means 'abandoned.' "

Collinsdictionary.com (based in London) does not have the verb definition, but gives an excellent example of the noun: fall into disuse.

disuse (vt and n): "transitive verb : to discontinue the use or practice of"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disuse
• "When all is spent, the last hoste will be a guide and companion vnto him to the next house vninuited: for that skilleth not; but are receiued with like curtesie: in respect of hospitalitie making no difference whether he be of acquaintance or not.
—Cornelius Tacitus, The Annales of Cornelius Tacitus, 1598"
(A) For Cornelius Tacitus, see Tacitus
Tacitushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitus
(c AD 56 – c 120; Roman historian)
(B) Cornelius (name)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelius_(name)
(C) When Did The Letter U Enter The Alphabet?  Dictionary.com, undated
https://www.dictionary.com/e/theletteru/
("The letters [U and v] begin to look different in the Gothic alphabet in 1386; however the use of the u was not widespread. When scribes did use a u, it was in the middle of words, eg save was saue, but upon was vpon. It wasn't until printing standardized letter shapes in the 1600s that the letter U became regularly used")

This is what happened in the 1598 quotation we read about above.

Gothic alphabet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_alphabet  
("is an alphabet used for writing the Gothic language ['is an extinct East Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths': Wikipedia]. Ulfilas (or Wulfila) developed it in the 4th century AD for the purpose of translating the Bible")

See also v
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V
(section 1 History: "During the Late Middle Ages, two minuscule glyphs developed which were both used for sounds including /u/ and modern /v/. The pointed form 'v' was written at the beginning of a word, while a rounded form 'u' was used in the middle or end, regardless of sound. So whereas 'valour' and 'excuse' appeared as in modern printing [same as in Late Middle Ages transcriptions], 'have' and 'upon' were printed as 'haue' and 'vpon.' The first distinction between the letters 'u' and 'v' is recorded in a Gothic script from 1386, where 'v' preceded 'u.' By the mid-16th century, the 'v' form was used to represent the consonant and 'u' the vowel sound, giving us the modern letter 'u.' Capital and majuscule 'U' was not accepted as a distinct letter until many years later")

(D) The above quotation is from the 1598 (English) translation (from Latin) by Englishman Richard Grenewey. The context of the 1598 translation is
The Description of Germanie: and Customes of the People, by Cornelivs Tacitvs. In The annales of Cornelius Tacitus: The description of Germanie. Early English Books Online (eebo) Text Creator Partnership (tcp), University of Michigan library, undated
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eeb ... =div1;view=fulltext
(at page 264: "III. Their domesticall life and behauiour.
GReater hospitality and entertainment is no where more bountiful than there, being a cursed deed to barre any man his house: and not giue him meate and drinke according to his abilitie. When all is spent, the last hoste will be a guide and companion vnto him to the next house vninuited: for that skilleth not; but are receiued with like curtesie: in respect of hospitalitie making no difference whether he be of acquaintance or not")

Medieval Sourcebook: Tacitus: Germania.
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/tacitus1.asp
("Tacitus, an important Roman historian, wrote the most detailed early description of the Germans at then end of the first century CE: * * * No nation indulges more profusely in entertainments and hospitality. To exclude any human being from their roof is thought impious; every German, according to his means, receives his guest with a well-furnished table. When his supplies are exhausted, he who was but now the host becomes the guide and companion to further hospitality, and without invitation they go to the next house. It matters not; they are entertained with like cordiality. No one distinguishes between an acquaintance and a stranger, as regards the rights of hospitality. It is usual to give the departing guest whatever he may ask for, and a present in return is asked with as little hesitation. They are greatly charmed with gifts, but they expect no return for what they give, nor feel any obligation for what they receive. * * * Text to this point from Tacitus, The Agricola and Germania, AJ Church and WJ Brodribb, trans., (London: Macmillan, 1877), pp. 87- 10 [sic]")

The same portion of the same translation, by the same publisher (Macmillan), but published in 1868 (at page 15) is here:
https://books.google.com/books?i ... PA15&dq=Tacitus,+The+Agricola+and+Germania,+AJ+Church+and+WJ+Brodribb+%22It+matters+not;+they+are+entertained+with+like+cordiality%22&source=bl&ots=v9XPOC-pKF&sig=ACfU3U3IoC3R3fT1OTG_1lnt196LStgw3A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwihuZrXqpHsAhU0mHIEHVtGA08Q6AEwAXoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=Tacitus%2C%20The%20Agricola%20and%20Germania%2C%20AJ%20Church%20and%20WJ%20Brodribb%20%22It%20matters%20not%3B%20they%20are%20entertained%20with%20like%20cordiality%22&f=false

The significance of The Annals on Germany is
Tacitus on Germany, Translated by Thomas Gordon. Project Gutenberg, release date: April 3, 2006
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2995/2995-h/2995-h.htm
("The 'Germany' is a document of the greatest interest and importance, since it gives us by far the most detailed account of the state of culture among the tribes that are the ancestors of the modern Teutonic nations, at the time when they first came into account with the civilization of the Mediterranean [ie, Roman Empire]")

The Latin for Germany is (feminine proper noun) Germania, whereas Germanie is, in English, "(proper noun): obsolete spelling of Germany" (Recall the quotation above was translated in 1598.)
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Germanie

(c) For decades since I came to Boston in 1990, I keep wondering why the plaque that Massachusetts Institute of Technology placed in the main address ("77 Massachusetts Avenue," Cambridge, Mass) styled both "u" as "v."
https://www.thecrimson.com/gallery/2009/11/10/today-in-photos/
(I google MIT, which does not have a word explaining it.) Now I realize that it is a silly attempt on MIT's part to be pedantic. V was used in lieu of u (there was no u then) prior to 1368! That was almost eight centuries ago.