Definition of disseminate
disseminated
;disseminating
Explore M-W
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
-
I was defeated in a low-turnout Republican primary in which patronage workers disseminated fraudulent campaign literature.
-
Although national security should be the primary concern of the White House, the president and his surrogates insist on degrading the news organizations working to report the story, while disseminating yet another grab-bag of conflicting messages.
-
Revenge porn, aka non-consensual pornography, is when someone disseminates sexual photographs or videos of another person without their consent.
-
State elections officials routinely provide Alaska's public voter data to political party operatives, and the information is widely disseminated.
-
The alert was further disseminated by state health officials.
-
What is even more troubling than some news outlets garnering attention for bogus stories is Facebook's role in disseminating and legitimizing them.
-
Evil multiplied, genetically conceived, technologically disseminated, rotting the very core of the species and infecting any semblance of innocence.
-
The diagnosis was septic shock with an intra-abdominal-wall infection and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), a life-threatening blood clotting condition.
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.
Origin and Etymology of disseminate
Latin disseminatus, past participle of disseminare, from dis- + seminare to sow, from semin-, semen seed — more at semen
DISSEMINATE Defined for English Language Learners
disseminate
playDefinition of disseminate for English Language Learners
-
: to cause (something, such as information) to go to many people
Learn More about disseminate
-
See words that rhyme with disseminate Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for disseminate Spanish Central: Translation of disseminate Nglish: Translation of disseminate for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of disseminate for Arabic speakers
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up disseminate? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Writing? Check your grammar now!