# diverse

> English word · Adjective · IPA /daɪˈvɜːs/ · frequency rank #4,753

## Definitions
1. Consisting of different elements; various.
2. Capable of or having various forms in different situations or at different times; multiform.
3. Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word: of a community, organization, etc.: composed of people with a variety of different demographic characteristics such as ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status; especially, having a sizeable representation of people who are minorities in the community, organization, etc.
4. Not the same; different, dissimilar, distinct.
5. Of a person: belonging to a minority group.
6. Differing from what is good or right, or beneficial; bad, evil; harmful.
7. Having different colours; mottled, variegated.
8. Causing one to be indecisive between different viewpoints.

## Etymology
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).

## Easily confused with
- **dives** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diverse-vs-dives)
- **divert** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diverse-vs-divert)
- **divest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diverse-vs-divest)
- **Drivers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diverse-vs-drivers)
- **divorce** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diverse-vs-divorce)
- **diverted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diverse-vs-diverted)
- **diver** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diver-vs-diverse)
- **divers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/divers-vs-diverse)
- **disease** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/disease-vs-diverse)
- **diverge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diverge-vs-diverse)
- **disperse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/disperse-vs-diverse)

## Common misspellings (10)
`ddiverse`, `dievrse`, `diveres`, `diverrse`, `diversse`, `divesre`, `divrese`, `divverse`, `dvierse`, `idverse`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/diverse