diffusion
nounUK /dɪˈfjuː.ʒən/ · US /dɪˈfju.ʒən/
Etymology Borrowed from Latin diffūsiō, from diffundō; can be decomposed as diffuse + -ion.
7 senses
- 1The act of diffusing or dispersing something, or the…
- 2The scattering of light by reflection from a rough…
- 3The intermingling of the molecules of a fluid due to…
- 4The spread of cultural or linguistic practices, or…
- 5The gradual spread and adoption of goods or services.
- 6Exchange of airborne media between regions in space in…
- 7The movement of water vapor from regions of high…
The act of diffusing or dispersing something, or the property of being diffused or dispersed; dispersion.
Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics The scattering of light by reflection from a rough surface, or by passage through a translucent medium.
Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics The intermingling of the molecules of a fluid due to random thermal agitation.
- gaseous diffusion
The spread of cultural or linguistic practices, or social institutions, in one or more communities.
- Even the false-necked vase, though it reaches its widest diffusion at this epoch, is, as we have seen, a type found existing in much earlier strata.1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete, page 99:
- The chief salesman of the A.I. boom, Sam Altman of OpenAI, said there was more resistance to “the diffusion, the absorption” of A.I. into the culture and economy than he expected.2026 February 21, David Streitfeld, quoting Sam Altman, “People Loved the Dot-Com Boom. The A.I. Boom, Not So Much.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
Climatology, Meteorology, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics, Weather Exchange of airborne media between regions in space in an apparently random motion of a small scale.
The movement of water vapor from regions of high concentration (high water vapor pressure) toward regions of lower concentration.
- Derived terms
27 terms
autodiffusion, biodiffusion, cultural diffusion, diffusional, diffusion-barrier, diffusion hypoxia, diffusionism, diffusionist, diffusionless, elastodiffusion, electrodiffusion, error diffusion, hydrodiffusion, hyperdiffusion, immunodiffusion, interdiffusion, microdiffusion, photodiffusion, prediffusion, pseudodiffusion, rediffusion, rotodiffusion, self-diffusion, subdiffusion, superdiffusion, thermodiffusion, vibrodiffusion- Related terms
- diffuseness, diffusity, diffuser