diverge
Americanverb (used without object)
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diverges,
present (3rd person singular)
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diverged,
past participle, past
-
diverging
present participle
-
to move, lie, or extend in different directions from a common point; branch off.
-
to differ in opinion, character, form, etc.; deviate.
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Mathematics. (of a sequence, series, etc.) to have no unique limit; to have infinity as a limit.
-
to turn aside or deviate, as from a path, practice, or plan.
verb (used with object)
-
diverges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
diverged,
past participle, past
-
diverging
present participle
verb
-
to separate or cause to separate and go in different directions from a point
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(intr) to be at variance; differ
our opinions diverge
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(intr) to deviate from a prescribed course
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(intr) maths (of a series or sequence) to have no limit
Synonym Usage
See deviate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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divergesimple
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divergessimple
-
have divergedperfect
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has divergedperfect
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am divergingprogressive
-
are divergingprogressive
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is divergingprogressive
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have been divergingperfect progressive
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has been divergingperfect progressive
Past
-
divergedsimple
-
had divergedperfect
-
was divergingprogressive
-
were divergingprogressive
-
had been divergingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing diverge
List 2
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Twelve Angry Men
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"The Road Not Taken"
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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:
In the elementary school years, their trajectories diverge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
There are lots of reasons the numbers can diverge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Lilly and Novo’s strategies have continued to diverge.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
Tesla and SpaceX stocks could diverge as Tesla reports vehicle deliveries on Thursday and SpaceX shares come off lockup.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
That language was pioneered in English, where, for example, ‘experience’ and ‘experiment’ began to diverge in meaning during the seventeenth century.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Here, “Maddie’s Secret” fully diverges from its semi-parodic path, following Maddie to treatment, which, like many people who end up in mandatory care facilities, she doesn’t take seriously, believing she knows her body best.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
But here is where the new theology diverges most sharply from the old.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 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
After passing around the point of this angelic ridge, the road diverges to the westward from Snake River and passes over some high, bald ridges separating it from Burnt River.
From Memoirs of Orange Jacobs by Orange Jacobs
She and I have diverged a lot over the years, but her voice is still strong and clear in my ear, and I’ve had so much fun writing for her again.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Meanwhile, what got cheaper diverged sharply from what got dearer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 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
Once, when the road diverged, Tristran was concerned that they might take the wrong fork.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
Could two of California’s biggest cities be diverging?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
“Our overweight sectors, Tech, Industrials, Financials, have seen diverging fundamentals & performance trends this quarter, which we see as attractive buying opportunities,” the Wells Fargo team wrote in a Sunday client note.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
In Tuesday's outlook will we continue to see diverging possibilities for early September, or will there be more clarity on the most likely outcome?
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 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
And that seemed to be where she and her parents were diverging.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
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.
