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diffuse

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: diffusé

English

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Etymology 1

From Middle French diffuser, from Latin diffūsus, past participle of diffundere, from dis- + fundere.

Pronunciation

Verb

diffuse (third-person singular simple present diffuses, present participle diffusing, simple past and past participle diffused)

  1. (transitive) To spread (something) over or through as in air, water, or other matter, especially by fluid motion or passive means.
    The small window diffuses light throughout the room.
    Ideas are easily diffused with the help of technology.
    • 1837, William Whewell, “Earliest Stages of Astronomy”, in History of the Inductive Sciences, from the Earliest to the Present Times. […], volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […]; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: J. and J. J. Deighton, →OCLC, book III (History of Greek Astronomy), section 3 (Correction of the Civil Year. (Julian Calendar.)), page 121:
      We do not know by whom the insufficiency of the year of 365 days was first discovered; we find this knowledge diffused among all civilized nations, and various artifices used in making the correction.
  2. (intransitive) To be spread over or through as in air, water, or other matter, especially by fluid motion or passive means.
    Food coloring diffuses in water.
    The riot diffused quite suddenly.
Usage notes

The words diffuse and defuse are frequently confused. To defuse a difficult situation would be to make it less potentially explosive (as if removing the fuse from a stick of dynamite); to diffuse it would be to spread it around.

Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English *diffuse (attested in adverb diffuseli), from Latin diffūsus.

Pronunciation

Adjective

diffuse (comparative more diffuse, superlative most diffuse)

  1. Everywhere or throughout everything; not focused or concentrated.
    Such a diffuse effort is unlikely to produce good results.
  2. Wordy; verbose.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

References

Anagrams

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French

Pronunciation

Verb

diffuse

  1. inflection of diffuser:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Adjective

diffuse

  1. feminine singular of diffus

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

diffuse

  1. inflection of diffus:
    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): /difˈfu.ze/
  • Rhymes: -uze
  • Hyphenation: dif‧fù‧se

Etymology 1

Verb

diffuse

  1. third-person singular past historic of diffondere

Etymology 2

Participle

diffuse f pl

  1. feminine plural of diffuso

Adjective

diffuse

  1. feminine plural of diffuso

Latin

Etymology

From diffūsus (“scattered, spread”).

Adverb

diffūsē (comparative diffūsius, superlative diffūsissimē)

  1. diffusely, in a scattered manner.
  2. copiously, fully

References

  • “diffuse”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, 1st edition. (Oxford University Press)
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Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

diffuse

  1. definite singular of diffus
  2. plural of diffus

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

diffuse

  1. definite singular of diffus
  2. plural of diffus

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