# diverse

Pronunciation: say "dy-VURS" US /daɪˈvɝs/, UK /daɪˈvɜːs/

## Adjective

1. Consisting of a number of different elements or kinds; various.
   - Simple: Made up of many different kinds of things.
   - _The museum's collection is remarkably diverse, spanning several continents and centuries._
   - _A diverse range of opinions emerged during the meeting._
2. 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.
   - Simple: Made up of people from many different backgrounds, such as race, gender, or income level.
   - _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._
3. Not the same as one another; different, dissimilar, or distinct.
   - Simple: Not alike, different from one another.
   - _The witnesses gave diverse accounts of what happened that night._
   - _Their political views are so diverse that agreement seems unlikely._
4. Having, or able to assume, several forms as circumstances or times change.
   - Simple: Able to take on many different forms at different times.
   - _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._
5. Of a person: being a member of a minority group. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: Describing a person who belongs to 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._

## Verb

6. To bring about change or variety in something's form or quality.
   - Simple: To change something or make it more varied.
   - _The committee sought to diverse the curriculum by adding courses from other traditions._
   - _Farmers diverse their crops to keep the soil healthy._
7. To make the scope of a business or set of investments more varied, especially in order to balance and reduce risk.
   - Simple: To spread money or business into different areas so there is less risk.
   - _Investors diverse their holdings to avoid heavy losses when one market falls._
   - _The firm moved to diverse its revenue streams beyond a single client._

## Adjective

8. Having different colors; mottled or variegated. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Having many different colors mixed together.
9. Wicked or injurious; departing from what is right, good, or of benefit. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Bad or harmful, against what is good or right.
11. Leaving a person torn between different points of view and unable to decide. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Making someone unable to choose between different ideas.

## Adverb

10. In different directions; diversely. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Toward or in different directions.

## Verb

12. To separate from someone by following a different path or course. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To go a different way from someone else and split off.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–5, 8–11** — The adjective comes from Middle English divers, from Anglo-Norman and Old French divers ("different; of various kinds"), and directly from Latin dīversus ("different, diverse"). This was the past participle of dīvertō ("to divert, turn away"), from dī- ("apart") plus vertō ("to turn"), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *wert- ("to rotate, to turn"). It is a doublet of divert.
**Meanings 6–7, 12** — This is from Middle English diversen ("to differ, diverge, change, vary"), from Anglo-Norman, Middle French, and Old French diverser ("to alter, change; to differ"), from Late Latin diversare ("to differ"). It was either a frequentative of Latin dīvertō or formed from dī- ("apart") plus versō ("to alter, keep turning"), a frequentative of vertō.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/diverse (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).