divers

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Adjective

Do not mistake divers with diverse. Divers is a word in its own right, albeit a fairly formal and uncommon one. Both words come from Latin diversus, meaning "turning in opposite directions," and until around 1700 they were pretty much interchangeable-both meant "various" and could be pronounced as either DYE-verz (like the plural of the noun diver) or dye-VERSS. Both words still carry the "various" meaning, but these days divers (now DYE-verz) is more likely to emphasize multiplicity (as in "on divers occasions"), whereas diverse (now dye-VERSS) usually emphasizes uniqueness. Diverse typically means either "dissimilar" (as in "a variety of activities to appeal to the children's diverse interests") or "having distinct or unlike elements or qualities" ("a diverse student body").