diversification

American  

[dih-vur-suh-fi-key-shuhn, dahy-] / dɪˌvɜr sə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən, daɪ- /

noun

• diversifications
  plural

1. the act or process of diversifying; state of being diversified.

2. the act or practice of manufacturing a variety of products, investing in a variety of securities, selling a variety of merchandise, etc., so that a failure in or an economic slump affecting one of them will not be disastrous.

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diversification British  

/ daɪˌvɜːsɪfɪˈkeɪʃən /

noun

1. commerce the practice of varying products, operations, etc, in order to spread risk, expand, exploit spare capacity, etc

2. (in regional planning policies) the attempt to provide regions with an adequate variety of industries

3. the act of diversifying

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nondiversification
  noun
• overdiversification
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• diversifications
  plural

Etymology

Origin of diversification

First recorded in 1595–1605, diversification is from the Medieval Latin word dīversificātiōn- (stem of dīversificātiō ). See diversify, -fication

Explanation

Diversification is the opposite of sameness. Use diversification to describe the goal achieved by a store that started with deli sandwiches and now offers gourmet coffee, muffins, soups, and salads. If a group seeks diversification, it wants to attract people of different ages from various backgrounds. If your financial adviser tells you that your stock portfolio needs diversification, this means you need to have stocks from a variety of companies and different industries. In other words, things should be more diverse. Use that to remember how to pronounce the word: Say diverse, then add if-ick-a-shun.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

diversification diversifications

Such structures could later have helped insects exploit a wide variety of terrestrial microhabitats and may have provided an anatomical foundation for their enormous later diversification.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

Paul Milliken, a reporter from Fox 5 Atlanta who had interviewed Parton many times, said diversification was the key to her business success.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

“But there’s also this other universe of stocks that, day in and day out, provide an element of portfolio diversification because they move inversely to the index.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026

The municipality is not waiting to find out, instead seeking to accelerate its economic diversification, hoping to find new areas of growth beyond the Opel plants.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

If so, what were the environmental differences responsible for diversification on the continents, and what were their consequences?

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

"We don't really know if there is a consistent set of features typically possessed by the ancestors of evolutionary diversifications," says Angielczyk.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 5, 2023

“We have fought for economic diversifications for so long.”

From Washington Times ● Aug. 22, 2020

The result is a history of life during this period, the early Palaeozoic era, that can pinpoint the rise and fall of species during diversifications and mass extinctions to within about 26,000 years.

From Nature ● Jan. 15, 2020

Chuck Robbins, who succeeded Mr Chambers in July 2015, has two decades of experience selling Cisco gear and seems more comfortable talking about its core business than about diversifications.

From Economist ● Jun. 22, 2017

These ways differed widely, hence the varied color schemes and diversifications of design noted by Sears on his first visit.

From Fair Harbor by Joseph Crosby Lincoln

Related Words

• diversity