diverge

American  

[dih-vurj, dahy-] / dɪˈvɜrdʒ, daɪ- /

verb (used without object)

• diverges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• diverged,
  past participle,  past
• diverging
  present participle

1. to move, lie, or extend in different directions from a common point; branch off.

   Synonyms:

   fork, deviate, separate

2. to differ in opinion, character, form, etc.; deviate.

3. Mathematics. (of a sequence, series, etc.) to have no unique limit; to have infinity as a limit.

4. to turn aside or deviate, as from a path, practice, or plan.

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verb (used with object)

• diverges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• diverged,
  past participle,  past
• diverging
  present participle

1. to deflect or turn aside.

diverge British  

/ daɪˈvɜːdʒ /

verb

1. to separate or cause to separate and go in different directions from a point

2. (intr) to be at variance; differ

   our opinions diverge

3. (intr) to deviate from a prescribed course

4. (intr) maths (of a series or sequence) to have no limit

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Synonym Usage

See deviate.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nondiverging
  adjective
• undiverging
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• diverging
  present
• diverged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• diverge
  simple
• diverges
  simple
• have diverged
  perfect
• has diverged
  perfect
• am diverging
  progressive
• are diverging
  progressive
• is diverging
  progressive
• have been diverging
  perfect progressive
• has been diverging
  perfect progressive

Past

• diverged
  simple
• had diverged
  perfect
• was diverging
  progressive
• were diverging
  progressive
• had been diverging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will diverge
  simple
• will have diverged
  perfect
• will be diverging
  progressive
• will have been diverging
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

diverge diverges diverged diverging

“Investors will be focused on where management is seeing demand soften versus remaining resilient, and whether current earnings growth can be sustained as capex trends increasingly diverge across sectors,” the bank says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

Lilly and Novo’s strategies have continued to diverge.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

But as they mature their lives diverge, in part because Lenù’s parents can afford to keep her in school and Lila’s cannot.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

Or are they simply the result of the random loss of gene variants as populations become isolated and slowly diverge over time?

From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026

Now this is where the stories offered by the boy and the State begin to diverge slightly.

From "Twelve Angry Men" by Reginald Rose

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

The scene, like much of the film, diverges from her novel.

From Salon ● Jan. 14, 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

He allows himself to be diverted from it by any game which crosses his path, and diverges as readily from his new direction.

From A Short History of French Literature by George Saintsbury

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

If their views diverged, they listened to each other instead of silently preparing a counterargument.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026

The framework follows genome evolution across three broad stages: before ancestral species diverged, during their separate evolutionary histories, and after their genomes merged.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2026

One end of the thing was pressed into the bank, but along its length it diverged, sticking out slightly into the stream.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Could two of California’s biggest cities be diverging?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

"I think audience members receive more positively men diverging from their expected roles," she says.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 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

A private gauge showed China’s manufacturing activity grew at a slower pace in June due to tapered factory production, diverging from a pickup shown in a competing index.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

“Jus, if Melo and SJ are diverging paths on the road of life, you’re headed for a dead end, my friend.”

From "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone

Related Words

• deviate
• differ
• disagree
• dissent
• stray
• vary