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
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disseminatesimple
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disseminatessimple
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have disseminatedperfect
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has disseminatedperfect
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am disseminatingprogressive
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are disseminatingprogressive
-
is disseminatingprogressive
-
have been disseminatingperfect progressive
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has been disseminatingperfect progressive
Past
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disseminatedsimple
-
had disseminatedperfect
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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:
"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
He shared his knowledge with the public by using his Pennsylvania Gazette, bought with a partner in 1729, to disseminate medical advice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026
In their open letter, the memorials called on social media platforms to "proactively combat AI content that distorts history" and to "exclude accounts that disseminate such content from all monetisation programmes".
From Barron's ● Jan. 27, 2026
Although the Americans leave Manila in the hands of the Japanese—temporarily, at least—and the Propaganda Corps works tirelessly to disseminate their messages, the Imperial Japanese Army struggles in the first months of the occupation.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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 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
It stores and integrates incoming information from the environment and interprets and disseminates information across different tissues.
From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2023
But whether with reverence or mute imprecations, the coach of a Czar disseminates thrills of fright as it proceeds.
From The White Terror and The Red A novel of revolutionary Russia by Abraham Cahan
"Generative AI enables disinformation to be created at unprecedented scale, tailored to specific audiences, and disseminated with remarkable speed," an EU official said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
According to his death certificate, Busch died from hemorrhagic shock and disseminated intravascular coagulation after complications from bacterial pneumonia led to sepsis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
She continued: "The more we are investigating this outbreak, the more we realise that it has already disseminated at least a little bit across border and also in other provinces."
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
The church denies that the aim of the lawsuit is to silence a popular maverick whose content is widely disseminated by critics of Mormonism.
From Salon ● Apr. 29, 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
However, it took months to gather the evidence necessary to identify and prosecute the person allegedly responsible for disseminating it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 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
"Existing methods of supporting children and young people with special needs should be evaluated with a view to disseminating good practice and reducing the current over-reliance on classroom assistants," it said.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026
They also agreed to "refrain from disseminating or promoting false information" in a bid to "foster an environment conducive to peaceful dialogue".
From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 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.
