diverse

See also: divèrse

English

WOTD – 21 March 2025

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /daɪˈvɜːs/, /ˈdaɪvɜːs/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /dəˈvɜɹs/, /daɪ-/, /ˈdaɪˌvɜɹs/
  • Audio (General American):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)s
  • Hyphenation: di‧verse

Etymology 1

PIE word
*dwóh₁

The adjective is derived from Middle English divers, diverse (“different, divergent”),[1] from Anglo-Norman divers, Anglo-Norman divers, and Old French divers (“different; of various kinds”) (modern French divers), and directly from their etymon Latin dīversus (“different, diverse”), an adjective use of the perfect passive participle of dīvertō (“to divert, turn away”),[2] from dī- (variant of dis- (prefix meaning ‘apart, in two’)) + vertō (“to turn”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to rotate; to turn”)). Doublet of divert.

The adverb is derived from Middle English diverse (“differently; at various times”),[3] from divers, diverse (adjective) (see above).

Adjective

diverse (comparative more diverse, superlative most diverse)

  1. Consisting of different elements; various.
    Synonyms: (archaic or literary) divers, manifold; see also Thesaurus:heterogeneous
    Antonyms: see Thesaurus:homogeneous
  3. Capable of or having various forms in different situations or at different times; multiform.
    • 1537–1542 (date written), Thomas Wyatt, “[Poems Written after 1536] Iopas’ Song”, in A[gnes] K[ate] Foxwell, editor, The Poems of Sir Thomas Wiat […], volume I, London: Hodder and Stoughton [for the] University of London Press, published 1913, →OCLC, stanza 5, page 195, lines 62–63:
      [T]he diverse mone abowt, / Now bryght, now browne, now bent, now full, and now her lyght is owt.
    • 1641, Ben Jonson, Discoveries:
      Eloquence is a great and diverse thing.
  4. Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word: of a community, organization, etc.: composed of people with a variety of different demographic characteristics such as ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status; especially, having a sizeable representation of people who are minorities in the community, organization, etc.
    • 2019 June 27, Lauren Gambino, “Democratic 2020 candidates clash on healthcare, immigration and economy in first debate”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 April 2023:
      The stage reflected the increasingly diverse Democratic party in which women and people of color are ascendant. Three women – two more than have ever shared a stage during a presidential primary debate and one of whom is Hindu – a Latino former congressman and a black senator participated.
  6. Not the same; different, dissimilar, distinct.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:different
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Esther 1:7, signature Yy2, recto:
      And they gaue them drinke in veſſels of gold, (the veſſels being diuers one from another) and royall wine in abundance, according to the ſtate of the king.
    • 1614, [Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, “Bethulia’s Rescue. The Wonder of Widowes: Honour of Wives: Mirrour of Maids. The Third Book.”, in Josuah Sylvester, transl., Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes […], London: […] Robert Young, published 1633, →OCLC, page 490, column 1:
      [T]h' old Chäos (vvombe of th' Universe) / VVas never made of Members more diverſe.
    • 1754, Jonathan Edwards, “Section IV. Of the Distinction of Natural and Moral Necessity, and Inability”, in A Careful and Strict Enquiry into the Modern Prevailing Notions of that Freedom of Will, which is Supposed to be Essential to Moral Agency, Vertue and Vice, Reward and Punishment, Praise and Blame, London: […] Thomas Field, […], published 1762, →OCLC, page 37:
      But it muſt be obſerved concerning moral Inability, in each Kind of it, that the VVord Inability is uſed in a Senſe very diverſe from its original Import. […] The VVord ſignifies only a natural Inability, in the proper Uſe of it; […] It can't be truly ſaid, according to the ordinary Uſe of Language, that a malicious Man, let him be never ſo malicious, can't hold his Hand from ſtriking, […]
    • 1876, Robert Browning, “Bifurcation”, in Pacchiarotto and How He Worked in Distemper: With Other Poems, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 93:
      ‘Our roads are diverse: farewell, love!’ said she. / ‘’Tis duty I abide by: homely sward / And not the rock-rough picturesque for me![’]
    • 1881, Thomas Caulfield Irwin, Sonnets on the Poetry and Problems of Life, Dublin: M[ichael] H[enry] Gill & Son; London: Simpkin, Marshall 7 Co., →OCLC, page 63:
      Intelligence contemplates all it sees— / Albeit but a point in the infinite / Universe—with but two rays of light, / Which illustrate diversest destinies; […]
    • 1998, Ken Shelton, Integrity at Work, Provo, Ut.: Executive Excellence Pub., →ISBN, page 42:
      This is what collectivism forgot — the freedom to be diverse, and the conception of each diverse individual being inherently of equal value and having open-ended potential for contribution.
    • 2013 May–June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist‎[2], volume 101, number 3, New Haven, Conn.: Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 April 2016:
      In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.
  7. (nonstandard) Of a person: belonging to a minority group.
    • 2016 January 22, “Academy Takes Historic Action to Increase Diversity”, in Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‎[3], archived from the original on 23 January 2016:
      The Board's [i.e., Board of Governors'] goal is to commit to doubling the number of women and diverse members of the Academy by 2020.
    • 2018 November 17, “Voter Fraud [cold open]”, in Saturday Night Live, season 44, episode 6:
      Here to comment is diverse Congresswoman from Ohio—please welcome representative Marcia Fudge.
    • 2021 August 23, “Mike Richards out as Executive Producer of ‘Jeopardy!’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune’”, in NBC News‎[4], archived from the original on 5 December 2024:
      [Mike] Richards came under fierce criticism since he was formally hired to emcee the legendary quiz show, with some longtime fans saying they believed the producers should have selected a more diverse candidate for the job, such as the actor and presenter LeVar Burton.
  8. (obsolete)
    1. Differing from what is good or right, or beneficial; bad, evil; harmful.
    2. Having different colours; mottled, variegated.
    3. (rare) Causing one to be indecisive between different viewpoints.
Usage notes

In early modern English, divers (and diuers) were the most common spellings of diverse and were pronounced with the stress on the first syllable. By the 18th century, divers (now pronounced /ˈdaɪvəz/) came to be used mainly to mean “various” (now archaic or literary, and replaced by diverse) and “an indefinite number of, some”, while diverse (/ˈdaɪvəs/) was mainly used in sense 4 (“not the same, different”) and sense 2 (“capable of or having various forms in different situations or at different times”). Over time, the stress of diverse also shifted to the second syllable (/daɪˈvɜːs/), which is now the more common pronunciation.[2]

Alternative forms
Derived terms
Translations

Adverb

diverse (comparative more diverse, superlative most diverse)

  1. (obsolete) Synonym of diversely (“in different directions”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English diversen (“to differ, diverge; to become different, change; to vary; to change or vary (something); to make a distinction, distinguish; to divert”),[4] from Anglo-Norman diverser, Middle French diverser, and Old French diverser (“to alter, change; to differ, diverge; to disagree”), from Late Latin diversare (“to differ”), and then either:[5]

  • a frequentative form of Latin dīvertere, the present active infinitive of dīvertō (see etymology 1); or
  • from dī- (variant of dis- (prefix meaning ‘apart, in two’)) + versāre (the present active infinitive of versō (“to alter, change; to keep turning, whirl”), a frequentative form of vertō: see etymology 1).

Sense 1 (“synonym of diversify”) became obsolete in the 16th century, and was probably recoined in the 20th century.[5]

Verb

diverse (third-person singular simple present diverses, present participle diversing, simple past and past participle diversed)

  2. (transitive) Synonym of diversify.
    1. To make (something) different or varied in form or quality; to alter, to change, to vary.
      • 1530 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), Iohan Palsgraue [i.e., John Palsgrave], “The Table of Verbes”, in Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse⸝ […], [London]: […] [Richard Pynson] fynnysshed by Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, 3rd boke, folio ccxvi, recto, column 2; reprinted Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, October 1972, →OCLC:
        I Dyuerſe[,] I make difference⸝ Ie diuerſifie, prime coniu.
      • 1895 November 25 (date delivered), Eugène Dubois, “On Pithecanthropus erectus: A Transitional Form between Man and the Apes”, in The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, volume XXV, London: […] [F]or the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., […], published 1896, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 247:
        In the Eocene, when the Old World and American mammal fauna were more nearly related, we have a hypothetical genus, Archipithecus, from which diversed a branch giving rise to the platyrhine apes, the families Cebidæ and Hapalidæ.
      • 1983 August 10, Bernard Muller, “Written Testimony Submitted to Congressional Hearing on Senate Bill #1329: Senators [James] Abdnor & Chaffee [i.e., John Chafee] at Aberdeen, SD: August 10, 1983”, in Wetland Conservation: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution of the Committee on Environmental and Public Works, United States Senate, Ninety-eighth Congress, First Session on S. 978, a Bill to Extend until October 1, 1993, the Authorization for Appropriations to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, and for Other Purposes and S. 1329, a Bill to Extend until October 1, 1993, the Authority for Appropriations to Promote the Conservation of Migratory Waterfowl and to Offset or Prevent the Serious Loss of Wetlands and Other Essential Habitat, and for Other Purposes […] (S. Hrg. 98-421), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 370:
        Nature does have a way of altering and diversing wetlands, streams and portholes through a period of a long range of years.
    2. (business, finance) To make the scope of (business, investments, etc.) different or varied, especially so as to balance and mitigate risks. [from 20th c.]
      • 2001, Marcel Jeucken, “Sustainability, Markets and Banking Products”, in Sustainable Finance and Banking: The Financial Sector and the Future of the Planet, London; Sterling, Va.: Earthscan Publications, →ISBN, part II (Banking and Sustainability), page 109:
        The investors in the SPC [special purpose company] derive their return, and well as diversing their risk, from three factors.
  3. (intransitive, obsolete, rare) To go a different route or way from someone else; to diverge, to separate.
Translations

References

  1. ^ “dī̆vers(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Compare “diverse, adj. and adv.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2024; “diverse, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “dī̆verse, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. ^ “dī̆versen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 “diverse, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.

Further reading

Anagrams

Danish

Etymology

From Latin diversus, via French divers.

Adjective

diverse

  1. various, sundry, miscellaneous, incidental.
    Synonyms: alle mulige, alskens, forskellige, forskelligartet
    han annoncerede under «diverse»
    he inserted an ad in the "miscellaneous" section
  2. Capable of various forms; multiform.

Inflection

Inflection of diverse
positive comparative superlative
indefinite common singular diverse — —2
indefinite neuter singular diverse — —2
plural diverse — —2
definite attributive1 diverse — —

1 When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
2 The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

References

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Audio:(file)

Adjective

diverse

  1. inflection of divers:
    1. masculine/feminine singular attributive
    2. definite neuter singular attributive
    3. plural attributive

Anagrams

Esperanto

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /diˈverse/
  • Rhymes: -erse
  • Hyphenation: di‧ver‧se

Adverb

diverse

  1. diversely

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /di.vɛʁs/

Adjective

diverse

  1. feminine singular of divers

Anagrams

German

Pronunciation

  • Audio:(file)

Adjective

diverse

  1. inflection of divers:
    1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
    2. strong nominative/accusative plural
    3. weak nominative all-gender singular
    4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /diˈvɛr.se/[1]
  • Rhymes: -ɛrse
  • Hyphenation: di‧vèr‧se

Adjective

diverse

  1. feminine plural of diverso

Determiner

diverse f pl

  1. feminine of diversi

Pronoun

diverse f pl

  1. feminine of diversi

Verb

diverse (rare)

  1. third-person singular past historic of divergere

Anagrams

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

From dīversus (“turned different ways”).

Pronunciation

Adverb

dīversē (not comparable)

  1. in different directions; hither and thither
  2. (figuratively) variously

References

  • “diverse”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “diverse”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • diverse in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, 1st edition. (Oxford University Press)

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French divers, from Latin diversus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈdivərs/, /ˈdiːvərs/

Adjective

diverse

  1. different, differing
  2. (collectively) distinct, unique; diverse
  3. various, varying
  4. strange, odd, unusual
  5. several, many
  6. unfriendly

Descendants

  • English: diverse
  • Scots: diverse

References

Adverb

diverse

  1. differently; diversely
  2. variously

Descendants

References

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin diversus, via French divers.

Adjective

diverse (indeclinable)

  1. diverse, various, sundry, miscellaneous.
    han annonserte under «diverse»
    he inserted an ad in the "miscellaneous" section
  2. Capable of various forms; multiform.

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin diversus, via French divers.

Adjective

diverse (indeclinable)

  1. diverse, various, sundry, miscellaneous.
  2. Capable of various forms; multiform.

References

Swedish

Adjective

diverse (not comparable) (plural only)

  1. various, miscellaneous
    Synonym: allehanda
    Det låg diverse prylar på golvet
    Various gadgets lay on the floor

References

  1. ^ legna in Bruno Migliorini et al., Dizionario d'ortografia e di pronunzia, Rai Eri, 2025
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