Etymologically
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diversification

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /daɪˌvɜːsɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/[1]
  • US: /dɪˌvɝsɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, /daɪˌvɝsɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/[1]

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

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