Divergence

How to spell divergence

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce divergence

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does divergence mean?

1. nounThe process or fact of moving or developing apart, or a difference between things that were once alike or aligned.

Divergence in a sentence

• The divergence between the two forecasts worried the analysts.

• A sharp divergence in their views ended the partnership.

Where does divergence come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb vergere, which literally meant 'to bend, turn, or incline' in a particular direction. Scholars combined it with the prefix dis-, meaning 'apart' or 'in different directions', to form the New Latin verb divergere, describing lines or paths that bend away from one another. English took up the noun form 'divergence' in the middle of the 1600s, when it was especially useful to mathematicians and writers on optics describing rays of light spreading apart from a point. From those technical beginnings the meaning broadened to cover any drifting apart, whether of opinions, routes, or biological traits. Its close cousin 'converge' shares the same vergere root but with the prefix con-, meaning 'together', which is a handy way to remember the spelling: the middle is verg, the same as in converge, never 'verj'.

How the word is built

• di- (apart, from dis-)
• verg (to bend or incline, from Latin vergere)
• -ence (noun-forming suffix)