Dictionary

diffusive en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /dɪˈfjuːsɪv/ (UK)

Etymology

From post-classical Latin diffusivus (“tending to spread; expansive”) (13th century), from participle stem of Latin diffundere (“diffuse, disperse”).

Meanings

1. That is spread or dispersed across a wide area or among a large number of people.
2. Involving or employing many words; expansive, discursive; (in negative sense) long-winded.
   • I can never forget the delight with which that diffusive and ingenious orator was heard by all sides of the House, and even by those whose existence he proscribed. 1791, Edward Gibbon, Memoirs of My Life, Penguin, published 1990, page 182:
3. That diffuses something; disseminating.
4. Pertaining to diffusion.

Forms

Deriveds

diffusivity · diffusiveness · nondiffusive · pseudodiffusive · hyperdiffusive · superdiffusive · electrodiffusive · rotodiffusive · undiffusive · biodiffusive · subdiffusive · diffusive equilibrium · diffusively