disentangle

dis- +‎ entangle

• IPA^(key): [ˌdɪsɪnˈtæŋɡəɫ]

disentangle (third-person singular simple present disentangles, present participle disentangling, simple past and past participle disentangled)

1. (transitive) To free something from entanglement; to extricate or unknot.

   I had to disentangle him from his own shoelaces.

2. (transitive) To unravel; to separate into discrete components or units.
   • 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide‎, page 10:

     This overlapping is reflective of hybrid languages, where certain features (phonetic, orthographic, semantic, syntactic) are also difficult to disentangle.

3. (intransitive) To become free or untangled.

• untangle

• tangle