dispersive
/dɪˈspɜːsɪv/dih-SPUR-siv
UK form converted from the US by rule · unchecked/dɪˈspɝsɪv/dih-SPUR-siv
Meaningtending to disperse
Common meaning: scattering
Tap a word part to explore
- disapart, away; not
- persto scatter, sprinkleLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1734 · scan
- iveadjective ending: tending to
‘apart, away’ + ‘to scatter, sprinkle’ → dispersive
Journey through time
- Latinspargō, sparsum‘to scatter, sprinkle’
- Englishdisperse‘to scatter’
- Englishformed in English from dispersedispersive‘scattering’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from disperse + -ive.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), DISPERSE, p.171 · scan
Roots
- spargō, sparsum Latin “to scatter, sprinkle”
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