diverse

Formsdiverses, diversing, diversed

1. 1
   adjective

   Consisting of a number of different elements or kinds; various.

   Like an orchestra blending many instruments into one sound.

   The museum's collection is remarkably diverse, spanning several continents and centuries.

   A diverse range of opinions emerged during the meeting.

   Similarvarious, varied, mixed, assorted, miscellaneous

   Oppositeuniform, homogeneous, similar

   Note

   Two spellings of one Middle English word stand behind this meaning: divers and diverse, both meaning "different, divergent," borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Old French divers. That shared origin is why divers still sits beside manifold as a synonym. The emphasis falls on a whole made of unlike parts, such as a collection or a range of opinions, rather than on one thing that changes.

2. 2
   adjective

   Of a community or organization: made up of people with a wide variety of demographic characteristics such as ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status, especially with notable representation of minority groups.

   Like a city neighborhood where many cultures live side by side.

   The company prides itself on a diverse workforce drawn from many ethnic and economic backgrounds.

   City council members pushed for a more diverse police force reflecting the neighborhoods it serves.

   Similarmulticultural, inclusive, mixed, representative

   Oppositehomogeneous, monocultural

   Note

   The demographic meaning usually comes with a modifier, as in an increasingly diverse party or a more diverse workforce. It seldom means mere assortment. When Lauren Gambino called the 2019 Democratic debate stage part of an "increasingly diverse" party, her point was the women and people of color standing on it. Applied to a group, the word implies real representation of minorities, not simply many kinds.

3. 3
   adjective

   Not the same as one another; different, dissimilar, or distinct.

   The witnesses gave diverse accounts of what happened that night.

   Their political views are so diverse that agreement seems unlikely.

   Similardifferent, dissimilar, unlike, distinct, differing

   Oppositesimilar, identical, alike

   Note

   The plain "unlike" meaning takes from, just as different does. Jonathan Edwards in 1754 used a word "in a Sense very diverse from its original Import," and the King James Bible of 1611 has vessels "diuers one from another." Browning's "Our roads are diverse" (1876) sets two things side by side. Unlike the "various" sense, this meaning compares rather than counts.

4. 4
   adjective

   Having, or able to assume, several forms as circumstances or times change.

   Like a chameleon that takes on a new color in each setting.

   The pathogen is diverse, taking one form in the bloodstream and another in tissue.

   Her writing is diverse, shifting shape to suit each genre she attempts.

   Similarvariable, versatile, changeable, protean

   Oppositeuniform, unchanging, constant

   Note

   Here the variety lives inside one thing rather than among many. Thomas Wyatt's moon is diverse because it keeps changing: "now bryght, now browne, now bent, now full." Ben Jonson's Discoveries (1641) calls eloquence "a great and diverse thing," a single art with many shapes. Where the "various" sense counts different members, this one follows a single thing through its transformations.

5. 5
   adjectivenonstandard

   Of a person: being a member of a minority group.

   The panel hoped to recruit a diverse candidate for the leadership position.

   As a diverse hire, she became the first woman of color on the board.

   Note

   A nonstandard stretch of the demographic sense from groups to individuals. Strictly, a group can be diverse but a single person cannot. The usage turns up in institutional prose, as when the Academy pledged in 2016 to double "women and diverse members." Saturday Night Live put "diverse Congresswoman from Ohio" into a 2018 comedy sketch. In careful writing, name the group, or say underrepresented instead.

6. 6
   verbtransitive

   To bring about change or variety in something's form or quality.

   The committee sought to diverse the curriculum by adding courses from other traditions.

   Farmers diverse their crops to keep the soil healthy.

   Similardiversify, vary, alter, change

   Oppositestandardize, homogenize

   Note

   A verb with its own French lineage: Middle English diversen, from Old French diverser, "to alter, change." John Palsgrave in 1530 pairs "I dyuerse" with French je diversifie, and diversify remains its synonym. It takes regular endings (diverses, diversing, diversed). In 1895 Eugène Dubois used diversed without an object, for a branch splitting off from an ancestral genus.

7. 7
   verbtransitive

   To make the scope of a business or set of investments more varied, especially in order to balance and reduce risk.

   Like a farmer planting several crops so one bad harvest won't ruin the year.

   Investors diverse their holdings to avoid heavy losses when one market falls.

   The firm moved to diverse its revenue streams beyond a single client.

   Similardiversify, broaden, spread

   Oppositeconcentrate

   Note

   The finance use of the general verb, where the object is a portfolio, a business, or above all risk. Marcel Jeucken (2001) writes of investors "diversing their risk." The idea is to spread exposure across unlike holdings or activities, so that no single loss can dominate the whole. Diversify is its synonym and names the same strategy.

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