divert

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English diverten,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French divertir,^[5][6][4][7] called Middle French by Barnhart and MWU,^[3][8] and directly borrowed from Latin dīvertō (“to turn in different directions, part, separate”).^[6][8][2][9] The Latin verb was blended with dēvertō (“to turn away, turn aside”).^[5][6][3] Both are formed from vertō (“to turn”),^[6][4][3] from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to turn, bend”),^[6][4] the first with dis- (“aside, apart”) and the second with dē- (“from”).^[6][3] Hoad notes that the Latin verb could also mean to leave one's spouse, the sense behind divorce.^[10][7] The French verb matches divertire and divertir.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To turn aside, depart from a place or course: before 1420, in Lydgate's Troy Book, of the Greeks hurrying back from the harbour to their ships.^[2][3] The OED dates this first use 1430 and notes that it is now archaic.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The intransitive sense came first; the transitive use, to turn a stream or other thing from its course, is recorded from 1548, in Hall's chronicle, as is the figurative sense of turning aside a plan or feeling.^[5] Middle English also had a medical use, drawing off fumes or humours.^[2][5] About 1600, in Shakespeare's Sonnets, the verb was used of drawing a person's mind away from a course or from serious thoughts,^[5][3][6] and this led to the sense "amuse, entertain", first recorded in 1662, a development that French also went through in the 17th century.^[3][6][10] Hoad dates the three stages to the 15th (turn aside), 16th (distract) and 17th centuries (entertain).^[10] In military use, to divert the enemy was to draw their attention away with a feint, from 1600.^[5] In Scots and Northumbrian dialect it meant to live apart, of a couple, and to be divarted was the usual word for being amused;^[11] Scots also had a noun divert, an amusement or an amusing person.^[11][8]

Timeline

• before 1420 – intransitive, to turn aside from one's course, in Lydgate (the OED's date is 1430).^[2][3][5]
• c. 1541 – in medicine, to draw off humours.^[5]
• 1548 – transitive, to turn a thing from its course; to avert a design.^[5]
• 1600 – military, to draw off the enemy.^[5]
• 1609 – to distract the mind or attention, in Shakespeare's Sonnets.^[5][3]
• 1662 – to entertain, amuse.^[5][3][6]
• 1707 – to while away time (obsolete by 1773).^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To change the direction or course of something; to deflect or reroute: Police diverted the traffic onto a side road.^[12][8][5]
2. To turn money, resources or effort from one use or purpose to another.^[8][5]
3. To draw a person's attention away; to distract.^[12][8][5]
4. To entertain or amuse.^[12][8][5]
5. To turn aside from a course or purpose; to deviate.^[8][5]

Word family

• diverter
• divertingly
• divertedly
• divertible
• divertive
• redivert

Related words

• diversion
• diversity
• diverse
• divorce
• convert
• avert
• revert
• version
• verse

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins