disseminate
verb
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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.
Examples of disseminate in a Sentence
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.
David Keller, CNBC, 24 Apr. 2025
Cuneo’s anti-Nazi operations, orchestrated from innocuous offices in New York’s Rockefeller Center, helped identify German spy rings and spread British propaganda, including by disseminating fabrications about Berlin’s intentions in Latin America.
—Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
These partnerships will leverage social media, technology, and broadcasting to disseminate vital information, connect individuals with resources, and inspire action on a national scale.
—Jem Aswad, Variety, 15 Apr. 2025
At the event, Mosser described how Aurora and Elgin had trained investigators who could look for cases of child exploitation – possessing or disseminating child pornography – but smaller communities like St. Charles and Geneva didn’t have the resources to do the same.
—Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 10 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for disseminate
Cite this Entry
“Disseminate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disseminate. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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disseminate
verb
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