diversity

[dih-vur-si-tee, dahy-]

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noun, plural di·ver·si·ties.

the state or fact of being diverse; difference; unlikeness: diversity of opinion.

variety; multiformity.

the inclusion of individuals representing more than one national origin, color, religion, socioeconomic stratum, sexual orientation, etc.: diversity in the workplace.

a point of difference.

Nearby words

Origin of diversity

1300–50; Middle English diversite < Anglo-French < Latin dīversitās. See diverse, -ity

SYNONYMS FOR diversity

2. change, difference, variation, dissimilarity.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR diversity ON THESAURUS.COM

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for diversity

That would truly be a milestone to celebrate—until you see what that record “diversity” actually means.
The Unbearable Whiteness of Congress|Dean Obeidallah|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Parker tells of a new Texas struggling to deal with diversity.
Will Texas Stay Texan?|David Fontana|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We know there needs to be diversity in storytellers telling their own stories.
Ava DuVernay on ‘Selma,’ the Racist Sony Emails, and Making Golden Globes History|Marlow Stern|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The speakers emphasized the diversity of the crowd and seemed to almost play defense over any perceived media attacks.
Sharpton Recalls Civil Rights Struggle in DC March Against Police Violence|Ben Jacobs|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Without any diversity of opinion, candidates tend to bunch together as much as possible.
Is Gay Marriage Going Away in 2016?|David Freedlander|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
With all this diversity of race there was a great diversity of opinions about political questions, as about other matters.
The War of Independence|John Fiske
Associated with this diversity of habitat is great variety in general form and manner of growth.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Part 1, Slice 1|Various
To this diversity of lines we must add the diversity of decoration.
The Spell of the Heart of France|Andr Hallays
The variety goes on increasing in diversity, while the original still continues to produce its like.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 108, October, 1866|Various
All this sameness in diversity disappears when we turn to theology.
Religion and Theology: A Sermon for the Times|John Tulloch

British Dictionary definitions for diversity

diversity

noun

the state or quality of being different or varied

a point of difference

logic the relation that holds between two entities when and only when they are not identical; the property of being numerically distinct

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for diversity

diversity

mid-14c., "quality of being diverse," mostly in a neutral sense, from Old French diversité (12c.) "difference, diversity, unique feature, oddness:" also "wickedness, perversity," from Latin diversitatem (nominative diversitas) "contrariety, contradiction, disagreement;" also, as a secondary sense, "difference, diversity," from diversus "turned different ways" (in Late Latin "various"), past participle of divertere (see divert).

Negative meaning, "being contrary to what is agreeable or right; perversity, evil" existed in English from late 15c. but was obsolete from 17c. Diversity as a virtue in a nation is an idea from the rise of modern democracies in the 1790s, where it kept one faction from arrogating all power (but this was not quite the modern sense, as ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, etc. were not the qualities in mind):

The dissimilarity in the ingredients which will compose the national government, and still more in the manner in which they will be brought into action in its various branches, must form a powerful obstacle to a concert of views in any partial scheme of elections. There is sufficient diversity in the state of property, in the genius, manners, and habits of the people of the different parts of the Union, to occasion a material diversity of disposition in their representatives towards the different ranks and conditions in society. ["Federalist" #60, Feb. 26, 1788 (Hamilton)]

Specific focus (in a positive sense) on race, gender, etc. is from 1992.