di|verge

di|verge «duh VURJ, dy-», verb, -verged, -verg|ing.

–v.i.

1. to move or lie in different directions from the same point; branch off: »

Their paths diverged at the fork in the road; he turned left, and she turned right. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by (Robert Frost).

2. Figurative. to differ; vary; deviate: »

Contestants who diverge from the rules will be eliminated from the competition. Pronunciations which diverged too far from the prevailing usage of polite society were publicly discouraged (Simeon Potter).

3. Mathematics. to increase indefinitely as more terms are added to a series.

–v.t.

to cause to diverge: »

A lens thicker at the edges than in the center tends to diverge incident parallel rays (Shortley and Williams).

╂[< Late Latin dīvergere < dis- in different directions + vergere to slope]

Synonym Study intransitive verb. 1 Diverge, deviate, digress mean to turn or move in a different direction. Diverge means to branch out in different directions like a Y from a main or former course: »

Our paths diverged when we left school.

Deviate means to turn aside in one direction from a normal or regular path, way of thinking or acting, rule, or the like: »

The teacher deviated from her custom and gave us no homework.

Digress applies chiefly to turning aside from the main subject while speaking or writing: »

I lose interest if an author digresses too much.