# divert

> English word · Verb · IPA /daɪˈvɜːt/ · frequency rank #16,694

## Definitions
1. To turn aside from a course.
2. To distract.
3. To entertain or amuse (by diverting the attention)
4. To turn aside; to digress.

## Etymology
From Middle English diverten, Old French divertir (“to turn or go different ways, part, separate, divert”), from Latin di- (“apart”) + vertere (“to turn”); see verse.

## Easily confused with
- **Dover** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/divert-vs-dover)
- **dives** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/divert-vs-dives)
- **duvet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/divert-vs-duvet)
- **driver** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/divert-vs-driver)
- **divest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/divert-vs-divest)
- **Drivers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/divert-vs-drivers)
- **diverted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/divert-vs-diverted)
- **diet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diet-vs-divert)
- **dirt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dirt-vs-divert)
- **dive** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dive-vs-divert)
- **diner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diner-vs-divert)
- **diver** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diver-vs-divert)
- **dived** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dived-vs-divert)
- **dimer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dimer-vs-divert)
- **direct** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/direct-vs-divert)
- **desert** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/desert-vs-divert)
- **digest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/digest-vs-divert)
- **divers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/divers-vs-divert)
- **diverse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diverse-vs-divert)
- **diverge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diverge-vs-divert)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ddivert`, `dievrt`, `diverrt`, `divertt`, `divetr`, `divret`, `divvert`, `dviert`, `idvert`

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