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Origin and history of divers

divers(adj.)

late 13c., "separate, distinct; various;" late 14c., "different in kind or character" (the sense now in diverse), from Old French divers (11c.) "different, various; singular, odd, exceptional; wretched, treacherous, perverse," from Latin diversus "turned different ways," in Late Latin "various," past participle of divertere "to turn in different directions," from assimilated form of dis- "aside" (see dis-) + vertere "to turn" (from PIE root *wer- (2) "to turn, bend").

The sense of "several, sundry, more than one but not a great number" emerged by c. 1400, referring "originally and in form to the variety of objects; but, as variety implies number, becoming an indefinite numeral word expressing multiplicity" [OED].

Middle English used the spellings divers and diverse indifferently. In later use, diverse became more associated with Latin diversus "turned different ways," and after c.1700 the differentiation in form and sense was complete.

Divers implies difference only, and is always used with a plural noun; diverse (with either a singular or a plural noun) denotes difference with opposition. Thus, the evangelists narrate the same events in divers manners, but not in diverse. [Century Dictionary]

also from late 13c.

Entries linking to divers

diverse(adj.)

"different in kind, not alike, essentially different," late 14c., a specialized use of divers (q.v.), in some cases probably directly from Latin diversus "turned different ways." In Middle English it also could mean "disagreeable, unkind, hostile" (mid-14c.). The differentiation in spelling (perhaps by analogy with converse, traverse, etc.) and meaning prevailed after c. 1700. The sense of "including and promoting persons of previously under-represented minority identities" is from 1990s. Related: Diversely.

dis-

word-forming element of Latin origin meaning 1. "lack of, not" (as in dishonest); 2. "opposite of, do the opposite of" (as in disallow); 3. "apart, away" (as in discard), from Old French des- or directly from Latin dis- "apart, asunder, in a different direction, between," figuratively "not, un-," also "exceedingly, utterly." Assimilated as dif- before -f- and to di- before most voiced consonants.

The Latin prefix is from PIE *dis- "apart, asunder" (source also of Old English te-, Old Saxon ti-, Old High German ze-, German zer-). The PIE root is a secondary form of *dwis- and thus is related to Latin bis "twice" (originally *dvis) and to duo, on notion of "two ways, in twain" (hence "apart, asunder").

In classical Latin, dis- paralleled de- and had much the same meaning, but in Late Latin dis- came to be the favored form and this passed into Old French as des-, the form used for compound words formed in Old French, where it increasingly had a privative sense ("not"). In English, many of these words eventually were altered back to dis-, while in French many have been altered back to de-. The usual confusion prevails.

As a living prefix in English, it reverses or negatives what it is affixed to. Sometimes, as in Italian, it is reduced to s- (as in spend, splay, sport, sdain for disdain, and the surnames Spencer and Spence).

*wer-(2)

Proto-Indo-European root forming words meaning "to turn, bend."

It might form all or part of: adverse; anniversary; avert; awry; controversy; converge; converse (adj.) "exact opposite;" convert; diverge; divert; evert; extroversion; extrovert; gaiter; introrse; introvert; invert; inward; malversation; obverse; peevish; pervert; prose; raphe; reverberate; revert; rhabdomancy; rhapsody; rhombus; ribald; sinistrorse; stalwart; subvert; tergiversate; transverse; universe; verbena; verge (v.1) "tend, incline;" vermeil; vermicelli; vermicular; vermiform; vermin; versatile; verse (n.) "poetry;" version; verst; versus; vertebra; vertex; vertigo; vervain; vortex; -ward; warp; weird; worm; worry; worth (adj.) "significant, valuable, of value;" worth (v.) "to come to be;" wrangle; wrap; wrath; wreath; wrench; wrest; wrestle; wriggle; wring; wrinkle; wrist; writhe; wrong; wroth; wry.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit vartate "turns round, rolls;" Avestan varet- "to turn;" Hittite hurki- "wheel;" Greek rhatane "stirrer, ladle;" Latin vertere (frequentative versare) "to turn, turn back, be turned; convert, transform, translate; be changed," versus "turned toward or against;" Old Church Slavonic vrŭteti "to turn, roll," Russian vreteno "spindle, distaff;" Lithuanian verčiu, versti "to turn;" German werden, Old English weorðan "to become;" Old English -weard "toward," originally "turned toward," weorthan "to befall," wyrd "fate, destiny," literally "what befalls one;" Welsh gwerthyd "spindle, distaff;" Old Irish frith "against."