dissemination
Americannoun
Usage
What does dissemination mean? Dissemination is the act or process of disseminating—distributing, spreading, broadcasting, or dispersing widely. 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 the dissemination of a press release by a company or the dissemination of information to the public by a government agency. Example: Our chief media officer is responsible for the dissemination of press releases to various outlets.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dissemination
First recorded in 1630–50; disseminat(e) ( def. ) + -ion ( def. )
Explanation
Dissemination is the scattering of information. If you've done something really embarrassing and don't want the whole school to know, let's hope no one who saw you is an expert in the rapid dissemination of humiliating facts. Dissemination builds on the word, seminate, meaning "to plan seeds." When you add the prefix dis-, you add the idea of separation, so to disseminate means to spread seeds widely. These could be literal seeds, like the dissemination of Oak genes by the scattering of acorns, or metaphorical seeds of ideas, like the dissemination of radical ideas through blogs, zines, and list-servs.
Vocabulary lists containing dissemination
Journalism
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
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Pet
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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.
The telegraph connected the U.S. by 1861, enabling rapid news dissemination and Civil War oversight.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026
These groups have drafted state legislation, planned its dissemination and engaged a well-connected lobbying firm to get them signed into law.
From Salon • Apr. 10, 2026
Currently under German law, only the dissemination of such pictures is potentially punishable if it is found to have breached someone's right to their own image.
From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026
The social-media platforms that enable the quick dissemination of information about political spending have been primarily built by wealthy entrepreneurs and investors.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 24, 2026
Senate and other offices—it was certainly handicapped, at least in the short term, by Kennedy’s brazen dissemination of inside information.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
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.
