diverge

American  

[dih-vurj, dahy-] / dɪˈvɜrdʒ, daɪ- /

verb (used without object)

• diverges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• diverged,
  past participle,  past
• diverging
  present participle

1. to move, lie, or extend in different directions from a common point; branch off.

   Synonyms:

   fork, deviate, separate

2. to differ in opinion, character, form, etc.; deviate.

3. Mathematics. (of a sequence, series, etc.) to have no unique limit; to have infinity as a limit.

4. to turn aside or deviate, as from a path, practice, or plan.

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verb (used with object)

• diverges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• diverged,
  past participle,  past
• diverging
  present participle

1. to deflect or turn aside.

diverge British  

/ daɪˈvɜːdʒ /

verb

1. to separate or cause to separate and go in different directions from a point

2. (intr) to be at variance; differ

   our opinions diverge

3. (intr) to deviate from a prescribed course

4. (intr) maths (of a series or sequence) to have no limit

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Synonym Usage

See deviate.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nondiverging
  adjective
• undiverging
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• diverging
  present
• diverged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• diverge
  simple
• diverges
  simple
• have diverged
  perfect
• has diverged
  perfect
• am diverging
  progressive
• are diverging
  progressive
• is diverging
  progressive
• have been diverging
  perfect progressive
• has been diverging
  perfect progressive

Past

• diverged
  simple
• had diverged
  perfect
• was diverging
  progressive
• were diverging
  progressive
• had been diverging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will diverge
  simple
• will have diverged
  perfect
• will be diverging
  progressive
• will have been diverging
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of diverge

First recorded in 1655–65; from Medieval Latin dīvergere, from Latin dī- di- ² + vergere “to incline”

Explanation

When two roads diverge, they split and go in different directions. If your opinion diverges from mine, we do not agree. To diverge means to move apart or be separate. The poet, Robert Frost, wrote: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -/ I took the one less traveled by / And that has made all the difference." The word diverge in the poem carries both the meaning of separating and of being apart from the main. As a poet, it was Frost's job to use words properly. Here he does not diverge from this role.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

diverge diverges diverged diverging

This is where things diverge because I’d maybe go catch a movie at CityWalk.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Lilly and Novo’s strategies have continued to diverge.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Based on what happened to PMI, this is the level where valuations begin to diverge.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

Or are they simply the result of the random loss of gene variants as populations become isolated and slowly diverge over time?

From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026

Through well-tended gardens beyond her patio, narrow stone paths diverge.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

But here is where the new theology diverges most sharply from the old.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

In fact, Wilson argues that his view of a broadening in earnings growth and market leadership diverges from the Wall Street consensus.

From Barron's ● May 13, 2026

Norton, the showrunner of Netflix’s “Finding Her Edge,” said much of that show’s plot diverges from Jennifer Iacopelli’s novel.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026

Campbell makes the point “when the physical diverges so sharply from the paper like this, one of them is wrong and historically, it’s not physical.”

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 29, 2025

Just before we reach the seventh milestone from Cambridge another south-running lane diverges to Caldecote, with its retired little fane on the hill-side over the Bourn, a very oasis of devotional peace and quietude.

From Highways and Byways in Cambridge and Ely by Edward Conybeare

Some construction is paused at a Midtown building being converted to about 600 apartments after activity diverged from approved design plans.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Rules diverged and were not globally standardised to seven-a-side until 1960.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

So far, Micron’s earnings-estimate momentum has diverged for two quarters.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

"We're essentially trying to create a tree that shows both the relationships of all the different species in the tree, while also calculating when those branches probably diverged," Dr. Churchill says.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026

A correct understanding of who the Japanese people really are, and how they diverged from the closely related Korean people, will be essential to finding that common ground.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Could two of California’s biggest cities be diverging?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

If I were on patrol to figure out where online subcultures were diverging from political reality, I’d start there.

From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026

To prevent prices of perpetual futures from diverging too dramatically from the spot price of the underlying asset, perpetual futures traded on exchanges like Hyperliquid rely on a mechanism called funding rates.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 5, 2026

Its clashes—between young prodigies and seasoned grandmasters, diverging national loyalties and opposing personalities—have inspired fiction, films, a popular Netflix series and a current Broadway musical revival.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026

“Jus, if Melo and SJ are diverging paths on the road of life, you’re headed for a dead end, my friend.”

From "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone

Related Words

• deviate
• differ
• disagree
• dissent
• stray
• vary