disseminate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
disseminates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disseminated,
past participle, past
-
disseminating
present participle
verb
Usage
What does disseminate mean? To disseminate is to distribute, spread, broadcast, or disperse widely. The act or process of disseminating is dissemination. The word is especially used in reference to the distribution of information, or things that contain information, like files and documents. It is also associated with the official release of such information by organizations, such as a company that disseminates a press release or a government agency that disseminates information to the public. Example: Our chief media officer is responsible for disseminating press releases to various outlets.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disseminatesimple
-
disseminatessimple
-
have disseminatedperfect
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has disseminatedperfect
-
am disseminatingprogressive
-
are disseminatingprogressive
-
is disseminatingprogressive
-
have been disseminatingperfect progressive
-
has been disseminatingperfect progressive
Past
-
disseminatedsimple
-
had disseminatedperfect
-
was disseminatingprogressive
-
were disseminatingprogressive
-
had been disseminatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disseminate
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin dissēminātus (past participle of dissēmināre; dis- dis- 1 + sēmināre “to sow”), equivalent to dis- + sēmin- (stem of sēmen “seed”) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
Disseminate means to spread information, knowledge, opinions widely. Semin- derives from the Latin word for seed; the idea with disseminate is that information travels like seeds sown by a farmer. Think about a teacher distributing a hand out at the beginning of a class. The dis- of disseminate and distribute come from the same Latin prefix which means "apart, in a different direction." But unlike papers distributed in class, information, once spread around in all directions, cannot be pulled back in. Think about false rumors or political smear campaigns and you'll understand that dissemination is usually a one-way process.
Vocabulary lists containing disseminate
Hidden Figures
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Grade 11, List 5
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1984
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Barrot said French diplomatic missions were trying to put across the French case "so that we have our own narratives to disseminate, rather than being subjected to those of others."
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
There’s a need to disseminate information and I can’t be hysterical about it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
"I have no doubt whatsoever that the people who espouse theories like those promoted by this individual will continue to disseminate them," Nunez added, referring to some French politicians.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
"We urge the public not to disseminate related information, to reject cyberbullying, and to work together to create a good environment for the growth of minors," reads an official statement.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
We are rightly appalled by the genetic effects of radiation; how then, can we be indifferent to the same effect in chemicals that we disseminate widely in our environment?
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
The letter said that project was aimed at assessing how the Secret Service identifies, receives, disseminates and operationalizes intelligence concerning threats to the officials it protects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
“If a city in a country wants to promote its tourism, its culture, that’s a very different thing from a paid advertisement that disseminates discriminatory messages,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2025
The organization referenced by Mr. Jacobs is the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade, or CAFT, a group that selects targets and disseminates information and resources to anti-fur activists on the ground.
From New York Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
The brain puppeteers the hormone system, which disseminates chemical signals through the bloodstream, and those chemicals can spark a wide variety of biological responses.
From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2023
These are the things which theatrical gossip, printed and oral, most industriously disseminates.
From Play-Making A Manual of Craftsmanship by William Archer
Photos and videos disseminated by state broadcaster Telesur showed residents huddling outside buildings after evacuating and streets littered with rubble fallen from crumbling edifices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
And conservative media outlets, such as Fox News, have disseminated them to millions of viewers.
From Salon ● Jun. 4, 2026
"So we do need better content that is disseminated through these platforms," he told a press conference.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
“The preliminary cause of death was determined to be disseminated intravascular coagulopathy and snake envenomation from snake bites,” according to the Sheriff’s Office.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
But, thanks to these translations and the printing press, Galen’s work was disseminated more widely than ever before over the next ten years or so.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
In exceptional cases, disseminating footage that’s hard to stomach serves a noble objective.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
The virus has been "rampant and silently disseminating for a few weeks already", she said.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
They called the medical groups’ request to block the vaccine panel from meeting publicly, and the HHS from disseminating information about immunization recommendations, “an extraordinarily unusual advice-banning” proposal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026
Media organizations were prohibited from disseminating any information in so-called pool reports from the Times reporter until after the parole board issued its decision.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2025
They might “build on public panic to further destabilize the system by disseminating rumors” and therefore “increase media coverage” and “stress the public health system.”
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
