Diffusion

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /dɪˈfjuː.ʒən/

Definitions

1. The mechanism by which substances or waves are spread throughout a medium involves distributing particles or energy from areas of high concentration to low concentration
2. The action where particles or molecules move from high to low concentration within a space or substance ; the gradual spread of concepts, technologies, or customs among groups of people over time
3. A physical process involving the movement of matter or energy through a medium resulting in equalization of concentration ; the social or cultural transmission where new practices or information become widely adopted

Etymology: Diffusion comes from the Latin "diffundere," meaning "to pour out" or "to spread abroad," built from "dis-" (apart, in different directions) and "fundere" (to pour). The Latin noun "diffusio" named the act of pouring or spreading out, and English borrowed it directly in that sense. The word therefore began as a picture of liquid running away in all directions, long before anyone applied it to particles. Its modern sense of particles spreading outward is a kind of sharpened version of that original image. The English noun is clearly formed on the adjective "diffuse," which itself came from the same Latin verb, and the "-ion" ending is the familiar suffix that turns a verb of action into a noun for that action. Because the root is "pour," the word is related to "fuse" and "confusion," which share the same Latin verb family, though "confusion" arrived through a different path.

Synonyms: spread, dispersal, distribution, propagation, diffusionism

Antonyms: concentration, compression, aggregation, gathering, collection