diffuse

See also: diffusé

English

Etymology 1

(deprecated template usage)

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

Pronunciation

• enPR: dĭfyo͞oz'
• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈfjuːz/
• (US) IPA^(key): /dɪˈfjuz/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːz
• Homophone: defuse

Verb

1. (transitive) To spread over or through as in air, water, or other matter, especially by fluid motion or passive means.
   • (Can we date this quote by Whewell and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     We find this knowledge diffused among all civilized nations.

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 sometimes confused.

Synonyms

• forspread

Derived terms

• diffuser

Translations

To spread over or through

• Bulgarian: разпръсвам (bg) (razprǎsvam), разсейвам (bg) (razsejvam), разпространявам (bg) (razprostranjavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 扩散 (zh) (kuòsàn), 渗出 (zh) (shènchū)

• Danish: diffus
• Finnish: levittää (fi), hajottaa (fi)
• French: diffuser (fr)
• German: diffundieren (de)
• Hungarian: terjed (hu), árad (hu)
• Ido: difuzar (io)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: idirleath
• Maori: tūrererere, tūringiringi
• Norwegian: diffundere
• Portuguese: difundir (pt)
• Russian: рассе́ивать (ru) impf (rasséivatʹ), рассе́ять (ru) pf (rasséjatʹ), распространя́ть (ru) impf (rasprostranjátʹ), распространи́ть (ru) pf (rasprostranítʹ)
• Swedish: diffundera (sv)
• Tagalog: ikalat
• Vietnamese: khuếch tán (vi), lan toả

To be spread over or through

• Bulgarian: разпръсвам се (razprǎsvam se), разсейвам се (razsejvam se)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 被扩散, 使渗出

• Finnish: levitä (fi), hajota (fi), hajaantua (fi), (science) diffundoitua
• German: diffundieren (de)
• Maori: kona
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian: diffundere
• Portuguese: difundir (pt)
• Russian: рассе́иваться (ru) impf (rasséivatʹsja), рассе́яться (ru) pf (rasséjatʹsja), распространя́ться (ru) impf (rasprostranjátʹsja), распространи́ться (ru) pf (rasprostranítʹsja)
• Swedish: diffundera (sv)
• Tagalog: kumalat

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

• enPR: dĭfyo͞os'
• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈfjuːs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /dɪˈfjus/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːs

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

• (not concentrated): spread out, thin; see also Thesaurus:diffuse
• (verbose): palaverous, prolix; see also Thesaurus:verbose

Derived terms

• diffusely

Translations

not concentrated

• Bulgarian: дифузен (bg) (difuzen), разсеян (bg) (razsejan)
• Catalan: difús
• Danish: diffus, uklar
• Finnish: hajaantunut (fi), hajanainen (fi), lavea (fi), (science) diffuusi
• French: diffus (fr)
• German: diffus (de)
• Irish: idirleata
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: diffuso (it)
• Norwegian: diffus (no)
• Portuguese: difuso (pt)
• Spanish: difuso (es)
• Swedish: diffus (sv)
• Turkish: dağınık (tr)

Related terms

• diffusion

References

• “diffuse”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Duffies

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /di.fyz/

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

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German

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

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Italian

Verb

diffuse

1. third-person singular past historic of diffondere

Participle

diffuse

1. feminine plural of diffuso

Adjective

diffuse

1. feminine plural of diffuso

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Latin

Etymology

From diffūsus (“scattered, spread”)

Adverb

diffūsē (comparative diffūsius, superlative diffūsissimē)

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

Related terms

• diffūsus

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

1. (deprecated template usage) definite singular of diffus
2. plural of diffus

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

1. (deprecated template usage) definite singular of diffus
2. plural of diffus