Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DISSEMINATE
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pronounce
DISSEMINATE:
Say it "diss EM in ate."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
In Latin, the word for "to plant, or to spread widely around" is seminare.
It gave us the word disseminate, which we're checking out today, as well as the word sem____, meaning "like a seed: full of possibilities, ready to develop into something, or, original and important, with a major influence on future development." Can you recall that word?
Getting back to today's disseminate, let's list some synonyms: spread, share, publish, publicize, propagate, dif__se ("to spread or scatter widely, or more literally, to pour all around"), and dis___se ("to scatter all around, in many directions").
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
make your point with...
"DISSEMINATE"
This word has Latin roots that mean "to plant in every direction." It's closely related to the word "seed."
To disseminate something--usually knowledge or information--is to scatter it all around, as if to help it grow, spread, and develop everywhere.
Part of speech:
Verb, the transitive kind: "they disseminated the rumor," "their research was quickly disseminated throughout the nation."
Other forms:
disseminated, disseminating, dissemination, disseminator(s)
How to use it:
This word is formal, common, and serious.
To use it, talk about people, groups, publications, forums, media, and technologies that disseminate things.
What things get disseminated? Usually, some kind of message. You can disseminate truth, values, information, knowledge, research, explanations, views, perspectives, interpretations, narratives, and counternarratives--as well as more specific pieces of communication, like facts, images, and documents.
Notice that it's truths and lies, facts and fictions, objective and subjective things (and everything in between) that can get disseminated.
examples:
"We continue to pour our writing and labor and photos and feelings out online but the sites on which they're disseminated are owned by a few companies and are there to sell us things, and we're heavily surveilled."
— Marie Buck, Poetry Foundation, 19 April 2019
"If your livelihood is dependent on disseminating public domain information, then your business is very surely in peril... Because that public domain information is all going to be absorbed into and provided for free by Google."
— Eric Enge, as quoted by Adrianne Jeffries, The Outline, 12 January 2018
has this page helped you understand "disseminate"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "disseminate" without saying "sow" or "diffuse."
try it out:
One version of a popular adage goes like this:
"A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on."
In your experience, is this true? Do lies get disseminated much faster than truths? That is, compared to verified facts, is it easier, or faster, or more fun, or more efficient, to disseminate rumors, speculation, half-truths, and straight-up lies (or "alternative facts")? Why or why not?
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
Rhyming Puzzles!
I give you a description of something, and you name it in a rhyming phrase. For example, if I say, "This is an ideal environment for a large tree-dwelling lizard--one in which this creature is perfectly happy and peaceful," then you say, "That's iguana nirvana."
The answers will get longer and sillier as the month goes on. If you'd like to see the clue, click or mouse-over the link. I'll share each answer the following day. Enjoy!
From the previous issue: You open the fridge and see that your kid has labeled a small container "Science project. Do not eat." Curious, you open it up, and a disgusting smell overpowers you. Inside the container is a dry, lumpy mass. You don't know what it is, exactly: you just know that it's an ____ _____. (Two words, two syllables each. Clue: use this word.)
Answer: olid solid.
Try this one today: You're known for the peppy, active spirit or attitude that's purportedly characteristic of people born between July 23rd and August 22nd. (Yes, I just made this up, and I put no stock in astrology.) Regardless, call this leonine pep your ___ ____. (Two words, two syllables each. Clue: use this word.)
review this word:
1. A near opposite of DISSEMINATE is
A. NOURISH.
B. ROOT OUT.
C. BE SKEPTICAL OF.
2. A word of advice for teenagers: if you wouldn't want it to be _____ disseminated, then don't send it in a text or an email.
A. subtly
B. publicly
C. privately
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
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Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
In Latin, the word for "to plant, or to spread widely around" is seminare. This word has Latin roots that mean "to plant in every direction." It's closely related to the word "seed."
"We continue to pour our writing and labor and photos and feelings out online but the sites on which they're disseminated are owned by a few companies and are there to sell us things, and we're heavily surveilled."
Explain the meaning of "disseminate" without saying "sow" or "diffuse."
One version of a popular adage goes like this:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. A near opposite of DISSEMINATE is
|