Diffusion: meaning, example and synonyms
Diffusionn. The gradual spreading of ideas, practices, or particles through a wider area.
Example
Historians trace the diffusion of papermaking along trade routes, noting that each region adapted the technique to whatever fibers grew locally.
- Part of speech
- noun
- Synonyms
- spread, dissemination, dispersal, propagation
- Antonyms
- concentration, containment, confinement
- Memory tip
- dif (apart) + fus (pour): poured out in all directions.
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Check yourself: Diffusion in context
The ______ of printing technology across the continent was uneven: some cities had dozens of presses within decades, while remote regions waited generations for their first.
Answer: diffusion. A technology spreading unevenly across a continent describes diffusion. Enmity (hostility), culpability (blame) and avant-garde (innovators) don't describe spread across regions.
In the experiment, students placed a crystal of dye in still water and timed its ______, observing that the color reached the edges of the beaker faster in warmer water.
Answer: diffusion. Dye spreading through water until it reaches the edges is diffusion. A crystal has no repertoire (range of skills), predicament (tough situation) or enmity (hostility).