disseminate

verb dis·sem·i·nate \ di-ˈse-mə-ˌnāt \

|Updated on: 8 Aug 2018

Examples: disseminate in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Disseminating Information on disseminate

Definition of disseminate

disseminated; disseminating

transitive verb

1 : to spread abroad as though sowing seed

disseminate ideas

2 : to disperse throughout

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dissemination

play \di-ˌse-mə-ˈnā-shən\ noun

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disseminator

play \-ˈse-mə-ˌnā-tər\ noun

See disseminate defined for English-language learners

See disseminate defined for kids

Examples of disseminate in a Sentence

He told me that as Commanding General [General David Petraeus] he believes he should not only direct battlefield action but also disseminate a few easy-to-grasp concepts about the war's prosecution, which subordinate officers can then interpret on their own. —Steve Coll, New Yorker, 8 Sept. 2008
Jefferson helped found and back a friendly newspaper, the National Gazette, to help disseminate his views. —Walter Kim, Time, 5 July 2004
In this case, the filmmakers did not prevent information from being disseminated. And they have no greater moral obligation than do the highly paid Tom Brokaw or Dan Rather to help a TV network keep down its costs. —Randy Cohen, New York Times Magazine, 7 Oct. 2001
Although possession of virus software and source code is not illegal, many of the existing state and federal computer intrusion and unauthorized access laws already make it illegal to introduce a virus into someone's system intentionally. Robert Morris's conviction … shows how the existing laws might be used to punish those involved with disseminating viruses. —Edward A. Cavazos et al., Cyberspace And The Law, 1994
The Internet allows us to disseminate information faster.
The findings were widely disseminated.

Recent Examples of disseminate from the Web

Ethereum was more pliable than Bitcoin, but its updates were disseminated by a core development team overseen by Buterin.

— gideon lewis-kraus, WIRED, "The Blockchain: A Love Story—And a Horror Story," 18 June 2018
Most Popular Details may change The summary, widely and unofficially disseminated in the capital, is a snapshot of the administration's thinking.

— zeke miller and joan lowy, Houston Chronicle, "Potholes ahead for Trump's upcoming public works proposal," 25 Jan. 2018
The video was also disseminated to be viewed during their fraternity house meeting, the lawsuit states.

— eli rosenberg, Washington Post, "Woman, with help of Stormy Daniels’s lawyer, sues fraternity for circulating explicit videos," 15 June 2018
On Monday, the defendants brought counterclaims, accusing Ticketmaster of creating and disseminating its own bots, and placing the blame for Hamilton ticket resells on the ticket giant itself.

— eriq gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, "Ticketmaster Secretly Provides Scalpers With Bot Software, Brokers Claim," 27 June 2018
The words were disseminated among Muslims in Saudi Arabia and all over the world.

— rafia zakaria, The New Republic, "Driving Toward Change," 23 June 2018
The rules also block foreign or private companies from investing in online news services or directly disseminating news.

— james rogers, Fox News, "John Oliver blocked: China's Weibo website clamps down on comedian for mocking President Xi Jinping," 21 June 2018
Advance scouts disseminated reports. Troubling lines from his 11 other major league starts raised concern.

— chandler rome, Houston Chronicle, "Evan almighty: Gattis goes on another rampage as Astros wallop Athletics," 14 June 2018
Specifically, one in four studies was never publicly disseminated.

— ed silverman, STAT, "The trouble with those post-marketing studies required by the FDA," 12 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'disseminate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Disseminating Information on disseminate

While the object of the verb disseminate may be something tangible, such as an infectious agent, nowadays the thing most often disseminated, or "spread abroad as though sowing seed," is information. Where does this metaphorical verb come from? In Latin, the dis- prefix signifies separation or dispersal, while the -sem- element springs from semen "seed." The same Latin noun is found in a number of other English words with figurative meanings: seminary (which now is a training facility for priests, but initially was a place where seeds were raised to plants), seminal (meaning "containing the seeds of later development"), and yes, the word semen.