Disentangle

Pronunciation:
/disenˈtaNGgəl/

Definition:
1.Free (something or someone) from an entanglement; extricate
2.Remove knots or tangles from (wool, rope, or hair).

Etymology:
None found

First known use: 1550

I ran across disentangle in a book I was reading and wondered why the author would use this word, as opposed to untangle.

To get to the bottom of it, you would have to go back to the root of the words: tangle. Entangled is almost always used when one thing becomes entwined with another, not when one thing becomes entwined or interwoven in itself, as with hair.

Does that straighten it out for you?