noun
Meaning 1
The state of being dispersed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dispersedness
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
dispersion
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /dɪˈspɜːʒən/
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Canada, General-American: /dɪˈspɝʒən/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australian: /dɪˈspɜːʒən/
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New-Zealand: /dəˈspøːʒən/
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rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)ʒən
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CMU ARPABET: D IH0 S P ER1 ZH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
A process of dispersing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dispersal
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
The degree of scatter of data.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
The separation of waves of different frequency in space or time; the amount of such separation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
The removal of inflammation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: medicine, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
the act of dispersing or diffusing something
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the dispersion of the troops
- the diffusion of knowledge
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dispersal, dissemination, diffusion
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: spread, spreading
Narrower terms: crop-dusting, spraying
noun
Meaning 7
the spatial or geographic property of being scattered about over a range, area, or volume
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- worldwide in distribution
- the distribution of nerve fibers
- in complementary distribution
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: distribution
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: spacing, spatial arrangement
Narrower terms: complementary distribution, complementation, diaspora, dissemination, diffusion, innervation, scatter, spread
noun
Meaning 8
spreading widely or driving off
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: scattering
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: spread, spreading
Narrower terms: Diaspora, dissipation
History
Etymology
From disperse + -ion, from Middle English dispersioun, from Old French dispersion, from Latin dispersiō.
Across languages
Translations
44 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: разхвърляност (razhvǎrljanost) — state
- Bulgarian: разпиляност (razpiljanost) — state
- Danish: spredning — state
- Finnish: hajaannus — state
- French: dispersion — state
- German: Verteilung — state
- Greek: διασπορά (diasporá) — state
- Greek: σκόρπισμα (skórpisma) — state
- Portuguese: dispersão — state
- Russian: рассе́янность (rasséjannostʹ) — state
- Russian: разбросанность (razbrosannostʹ) — state
- Tagalog: pagkalat — state
- Ukrainian: розсі́яність (rozsíjanistʹ) — state
- Bulgarian: разпръскване (razprǎskvane) — process
- Bulgarian: разпиляване (razpiljavane) — process
- Czech: disperze — process
- Danish: spredning — process
- Finnish: hajonta — process
- French: dispersion — process
- Greek: διασπορά (diasporá) — process
- Greek: σκόρπισμα (skórpisma) — process
- Manx: scaalhean — process
- Manx: skeayl — process
- Portuguese: dispersão — process
- Romanian: dispersare — process
- Russian: рассеивание (rasseivanije) — process
- Tagalog: pagkalat — process
- Ottoman Turkish: صاچمه (saçma) — process
- Arabic: تَشَتُّت (tašattut) — degree of scatter of data
- Bulgarian: разсейване (razsejvane) — degree of scatter of data
- French: dispersion — degree of scatter of data
- Portuguese: dispersão — degree of scatter of data
- Swedish: spridning — degree of scatter of data
- Tagalog: kakalatan — degree of scatter of data
- Bulgarian: разсейване (razsejvane) — optics: separation of visible light to its component frequencies
- Danish: dispersion — optics: separation of visible light to its component frequencies
- Danish: farvespredning — optics: separation of visible light to its component frequencies
- Finnish: dispersio — optics: separation of visible light to its component frequencies
- Finnish: hajottaminen — optics: separation of visible light to its component frequencies
- French: dispersion — optics: separation of visible light to its component frequencies
- Norwegian Bokmål: dispersjon — optics: separation of visible light to its component frequencies
- Norwegian Nynorsk: dispersjon — optics: separation of visible light to its component frequencies
- Russian: дисперсия (dispersija) — optics: separation of visible light to its component frequencies
- Tagalog: pagkalat — optics: separation of visible light to its component frequencies
Real reading context