Disaresta

"Disaresta" is an English word of French etymology created in the 17th century, which means either destiny, or the will of God. In his Christmas Day sermon of 1622 to King James I, Bishop Lancelot Andrewes used the French words "dieu arrêter" to describe the divine force that drove on the Three Wise Men to seek the baby Jesus, even in the harsh conditions of winter. The words dieu arrêter literally mean "God stop", i.e, a human action checked by God.

In 1693 the word "disaresta" appeared with its current spelling for the first time in the short poem The Shepherd's Work by Nahum Tate:

Tate was familiar with Bishop Andrewes’ sermons, and created the word "disaresta" as a poetic contraction of dieu[x] arrêter. The word did not acquire much popularity, and was not used again by another poet. Recently, the word disaresta has become popular in the gaming subculture because of its presence in the video game Riviera: The Promised Land, wherein it means "the will of the gods"

Notes and references

• Spencer, Christopher. Nahum Tate, Twayne Publishers, 1972.