Diverting

How to spell diverting

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce diverting

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does diverting mean?

1. verbTurning or redirecting something, such as traffic, water, attention, or funds, away from its usual course.
2. adjectiveEntertaining or pleasantly distracting, taking the mind off other concerns.

Diverting in a sentence

• verb

  The council is diverting all traffic around the flooded junction.

• adjective

  The novel was a light, diverting read for the long flight home.

• verb

  The manager was caught diverting company funds into a private account.

• adjective

  She told a few diverting stories to keep the dinner guests laughing.

Where does diverting come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb divertere, which combined di-, meaning 'aside' or 'in a different direction', with vertere, meaning 'to turn'. So at its root it literally describes the act of turning something away from its existing course. English took it in through Old French divertir during the fifteenth century, at first in the plain sense of turning aside or redirecting a path, a river, or attention. Because turning the mind away from cares is exactly what entertainment does, the word picked up a second, lighter meaning of 'amusing' or 'pleasantly distracting' by the seventeenth century. The same vertere root turns up in a whole family of relatives such as 'convert', 'reverse', and 'version', which is a handy reminder that the spelling keeps the 'vert' block intact before the -ing.

How the word is built

• di- (aside, in different directions)
• vert (from vertere: to turn)
• -ing (forming present participle / adjective)