diversity
Pluraldiversities (some meanings)
- 1The quality of being varied or different; the condition of being unlike one another.
The diversity of viewpoints among the panelists enriched the discussion.
Ecologists prize the biological diversity found within a healthy forest.
Similarvariety, heterogeneity, irregularity, multiformity
Oppositeuniformity, homogeneity, sameness, similarity
Note
English borrowed this word for difference itself. Middle English diversite came through Old French from Latin dīversitās and pushed aside the native Old English mislīcnes. It had a political life long before the workplace sense. Stephen A. Douglas called diversity in local institutions "the great safeguard of our liberties" in 1858, and Lyndon Johnson wanted a world "safe for diversity."
- 2The inclusion of people from a wide range of backgrounds, identities, and groups, especially to ensure equal opportunity.
The firm's commitment to diversity shaped its hiring and promotion policies.
Many employers now publish annual reports on diversity within their workforce.
Similarinclusion, inclusiveness, representation
Oppositehomogeneity
Note
A word of offices and admissions committees, often used as a modifier: diversity initiatives, diversity trainings. In these phrases it names a policy rather than a fact about a group. In US higher education its setting runs through Bakke, the Supreme Court case on race in admissions. In 2021 Jay Caspian Kang called diversity a big industry, with about $8 billion a year spent on trainings in America.
- 3A range or assortment of different types, kinds, or examples.
The museum displays a diversity of artifacts from ancient cultures.
His record collection shows a remarkable diversity of musical styles.
Note
Here the noun counts kinds rather than naming a quality. It usually comes as a diversity of followed by a plural, as in a diversity of styles, much like a variety of or a selection of. In front of another noun, as in species diversity, it measures how many kinds a place holds. The split from the quality of being unlike is grammatical: the article and the of-phrase mark this sense.
Practice
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Origin
This word comes from Middle English diversite, from Old French diversité, from Latin dīversitās, and is equivalent to 'diverse' plus '-ity'. It displaced the native Old English word mislīcnes.