diverse

diverse · adjective, adverb¹

1. Middle English · inherited fromdiverse“differently; at various times”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*wert-“to rotate; to turn”
3. Latin · derived fromdīversus“different, diverse”
4. Old French · derived fromdivers“different; of various kinds”
5. Anglo-Norman · derived fromdivers
6. Middle English · inherited fromdivers
7. English todaydiverse

PIE word *dwóh₁ The adjective is derived from Middle English divers, diverse (“different, divergent”), from Anglo-Norman divers, Anglo-Norman divers, and Old French divers (“different; of various kinds”) (modern French divers), and directly from their etymon Latin dīversus (“different, diverse”), an adjective use of the perfect passive participle of dīvertō (“to divert, turn away”), from dī- (variant of dis- (prefix meaning ‘apart, in two’)) + vertō (“to turn”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to rotate; to turn”)). Doublet of divert. The adverb is derived from Middle English diverse (“differently; at various times”), from divers, diverse (adjective) (see above).

diverse · verb²

1. Latin · derived fromdīvertere
2. Late Latin · derived fromdiversare“to differ”
3. Old French · derived fromdiverser“to alter, change; to differ, diverge; to disagree”
4. Middle French · derived fromdiverser
5. Anglo-Norman · derived fromdiverser
6. Middle English · inherited fromdiversen“to differ, diverge; to become different, change; to vary; to change or vary (something); to make a distinction, distinguish; to divert”
7. English todaydiverse

From Middle English diversen (“to differ, diverge; to become different, change; to vary; to change or vary (something); to make a distinction, distinguish; to divert”), from Anglo-Norman diverser, Middle French diverser, and Old French diverser (“to alter, change; to differ, diverge; to disagree”), from Late Latin diversare (“to differ”), and then either: * a frequentative form of Latin dīvertere, the present active infinitive of dīvertō (see etymology 1); or * from dī- (variant of dis- (prefix meaning ‘apart, in two’)) + versāre (the present active infinitive of versō (“to alter, change; to keep turning, whirl”), a frequentative form of vertō: see etymology 1). Etymology 2 sense 1 (“synonym of diversify”) became obsolete in the 16th century, and was probably recoined in the 20th century.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 20th c. To make the scope of (business, investments, etc.) different or varied, especially so as to balance and mitigate risks.