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Origin and history of scattering

scattering(n.)

mid-14c., "that which has been strewn about;" late 14c., "act of sprinkling, strewing, or dispersing;" verbal noun from scatter (v.). By 1620s as "sparse number or amount." Colloquial scatteration is attested by 1776.

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to scattering

scatter(v.)

mid-12c., scateren, transitive, "to squander;" c. 1300, "to separate and drive off in disorder;" late 14c., "to throw loosely about, strew here and there," possibly a northern English variant of Middle English schateren (see shatter), reflecting Norse influence. The intransitive sense, "go or flee in different directions, disperse" is from c. 1300. As a noun from 1640s, "act or action of scattering;" by 1950 in reference to radio waves.

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    sprinkle
    "scatter drops or particles," late 14c., sprenklen (implied in sprynklid), frequentative of sprenge (see spring (v.), also see -el (3)); cognate with or influenced by Dutch sprenkelen, Low German sprenkeln, German sprenkeln; and the nouns Middle Dutch, Middle Low German sprenkel
    dispersion
    late 14c., dispersioun, "the Jewish diaspora," from Old French dispersion (13c.), from Latin dispersionem (nominative dispersio) "a scattering," noun of action from past-participle stem of dispergere "to scatter," from dis- "apart, in every direction" (see dis-) + spargere "to sc
    dissemination
    spreading abroad (opinion, information, etc.) for acceptance," from Latin disseminationem (nominative disseminatio) "a scattering...The figurative sense in English is earlier than the literal one of "act of sowing or scattering seed for propagation."...
    dissipation
    early 15c., dissipacioun, "disintegration, dissolution," from Latin dissipationem (nominative dissipatio) "a scattering,"...
    claymore
    Modern military application to a type of pellet-scattering anti-personnel mine is first attested 1962....
    spread
    Middle English had the verbal noun spreding "a scattering, strewing; opening expansion" (mid-13c.)....
    sparse
    sper- "to spread, sow" (source also of Hittite išpar- "to spread out, strew;" Greek speirein "to strew, to sow," spora "a scattering...
    circulate
    1540s as a chemical term in reference to alternating vaporization and condensation, from Latin circulatus, past participle of circulare "to form a circle," from circulus "small ring" (see circle (n.)). Intransitive sense of "to pass about freely, pass from place to place or perso
    dot
    "point or minute spot on a surface," Old English dott, once, "speck, head of a boil," perhaps related to Norwegian dot "lump, small knot," Dutch dot "knot, small bunch, wisp," Old High German tutta "nipple;" a word of uncertain etymology. Known from a single source c. 1000; the w
    swash
    1530s, expressing a blow or the fall of a heavy body, probably imitative. It also meant "pig-wash, filth, wet refuse" (1520s) and may have been imitative of the sound of water dashing against solid objects or a heavy blow on a yielding surface. The meaning "a body of splashing wa

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