Other forms: disqualified, disqualifying, disqualifies
To disqualify is to rule somebody out of a contest or a right. Disqualify the runner, disqualified from driving, disqualify the entry.
In sport it means the result is struck out rather than reduced. Disqualification from driving is a court penalty and is the correct term for what everybody calls losing your licence.
1verbdisqualifyTo rule somebody out of a contest or a right.
“Her entry to the baking contest was disqualified because she had bought the cake from a shop.”
disqualify is a barring.
Middle French
qualifier — to qualify
English
qualify
English, today
disqualify
From dis- + qualify. qualify Middle French qualifier (“to qualify”). Equivalent to quality + -fy.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA