diversification

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin diversificatio (“differentiation, variation”),^[2][3][4][5] formed from diversificatus, the past participle of diversificō (“to make varied”), and the suffix -iō.^[3][2] The verb is from dīversus (“turned different ways; various”) and -ficō,^[2][6] and the adjective is the past participle of dīvertō (“to turn in different directions”), from dis- (“aside”) and vertō (“to turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to turn, bend”).^[6] The OED compares diversification, recorded in the 14th century.^[2] It serves as the noun of action of diversify.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action or process of diversifying something, or of becoming different; variation: 1603, in P. Holland's translation of Plutarch's Morals.^[2] Etymonline dates it to about 1600, with the sense of changing forms or qualities.^[6]

Semantic evolution

From 1625, in Purchas, the word also meant a single variation in form or character.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as the act of changing forms or qualities, quoting Boyle on colours, and secondly as variation.^[8] The business sense, spreading production over a variety of goods or services or investment over a variety of enterprises, is recorded by the OED from 1853, in De Bow's survey of the industrial resources of the Southern and Western states,^[2] although Etymonline dates it only from 1939, and the spread of investments as a later use.^[6] Collins also records a sense in regional planning, the provision of a variety of industries in a region.^[9]

Timeline

• 1603 – the action of diversifying; variation.^[2]
• 1625 – a variation in form or character.^[2]
• 1853 – in business, the spread of production or investment over a variety of enterprises.^[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1939.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or process of diversifying, or of becoming more varied; the state of being varied.^[3][2][9]
2. (business) The practice of extending a firm's range of products or operations in order to spread risk or to grow: The brewery's diversification into soft drinks paid off.^[9][2]
3. (finance) The spreading of investments over different kinds of securities or enterprises to reduce risk.^[3][2][6]
4. In regional planning, the provision of a region with a variety of industries.^[9]

Word family

• nondiversification
• overdiversification

Related words

• diversify
• diverse
• diversity
• divert
• version

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins