dispersal
dispersal Lexical Profile
dispersal Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The action or process of distributing or spreading things or people over a wide area.
"The rapid dispersal of information via the internet has transformed modern journalism."
In ecology, the movement of organisms, seeds, or spores away from their point of origin or from areas of high population density.
"Many plants rely on wind or frugivorous birds for the effective dispersal of their seeds."
Word Nuance & Usage
'Dispersal' and 'dispersion' are closely related, but 'dispersal' typically refers to the active process of scattering or spreading out (especially in ecology for seeds or animals, or for crowds), whereas 'dispersion' more often refers to the resulting state of distribution or has specialized meanings in physics (light) and statistics.
• Rhymes for dispersal
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the early 19th century from the verb 'disperse' plus the noun-forming suffix '-al'. 'Disperse' derives from Middle French 'disperser', from Latin 'dispersus', the past participle of 'dispergere' ('to scatter abroad'), formed from 'dis-' ('apart') and 'spargere' ('to scatter or strew').