divaricate

[dahy-var-i-keyt, dih-, dahy-var-uh-kit, -keyt, dih-]

verb (used without object)

divaricated, divaricating 

1. to spread apart; branch; diverge.

2. Botany, Zoology.,  to branch at a wide angle.

adjective

1. spread apart; widely divergent.

2. Botany, Zoology.,  branching at a wide angle.

divaricate

verb

1. (intr) (esp of branches) to diverge at a wide angle

adjective

1. branching widely; forked

Other Word Forms

• divarication noun
• divaricately adverb
• divaricatingly adverb
• divaricator noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of divaricate¹

1615–25; < Latin dīvāricātus (past participle of dīvāricāre ), equivalent to dī di- ² + vāric- (base of vāricāre to straddle; prevaricate ) + -ātus -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of divaricate¹

C17: from Latin dīvāricāre to stretch apart, from _di- ² + vāricāre to stand astride

Example Sentences

One minute they were vexed, their limbs divaricate, their movements speedy, as you'd imagine the mighty zebra of the plains.

Read more on The Guardian

Cardinal teeth small, fragile, variable in number, and rarely divaricated.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

Very similar, but smoother and deeper green, with more slender, linear-cylindric, more or less flexuous spikes, the lateral ones spreading or divaricate, and the sepals more frequently acute or acuminate.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

Stems are many, tufted, slender, creeping and rooting, or ascending and suberect, simple or branched, 6 to 20 inches long and leafy and leaves bifarious and divaricate.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

Divergent: spreading out from a common base; in Coleoptera, tarsal claws are divergent when they spread out only a little; divaricate when they separate widely.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• alter 
• differ 
• diverge 
• diversify 
• divide 
• fluctuate 
• modify 
• range