Permeates

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To thoroughly spread and fill all parts of a material or space
2. To infiltrate and influence every level or aspect of a given environment
3. To move or diffuse through every part of a material or area; to enter and have an effect on all parts or aspects

Etymology: "Permeates" is the third-person singular form of "permeate," so the history belongs to the verb itself. English first recorded "permeate" in 1656, borrowed from the Latin "permeātus," the past participle of "permeō," meaning "to pass through." The Latin verb is built from "per," "through," and "meō," "to go," so the core image is simply movement from one side of something to the other. The verb's original sense was physical: liquids, gases, or light passing through a porous material. Over time the sense widened to cover anything that spreads into every corner of a space or a situation, such as an idea that seeps through a culture or a smell that fills a room. The modern meaning keeps that picture of passing through, now applied to influence and atmosphere as well as matter.

Synonyms: penetrates, saturates, infuses, pervades, spreads

Antonyms: withholds, excludes, restricts, impedes, blocks