diversify

verb

di·​ver·​si·​fy də-ˈvər-sə-ˌfī 

dī-

diversified; diversifying

transitive verb

1

: to make diverse or composed of unlike elements : give variety to

diversify a course of study

2

: to balance (an investment portfolio) defensively by dividing funds among securities (see security sense 3) of different industries or of different classes

diversify your investments

3

: to increase the variety of the products of

diversify the company

intransitive verb

1

: to produce variety

encouraging farmers to diversify

2

: to engage in varied operations

diversifying into online services

diversifier

də-ˈvər-sə-ˌfī(-ə)r 

dī-

noun

Examples of diversify in a Sentence

The country is diversifying its energy sources.

farmers who want to diversify their crops

The new CEO's chief aim is to diversify the company.

The company needs to diversify.

Many publishing companies have diversified into online services.

Recent Examples on the Web

The decline appears driven by tighter immigration enforcement and could affect the country’s efforts to diversify its economy. —semafor.com, 29 Sep. 2025

Argentina and other South American countries also are selling more to China, which has diversified to boost food security. —Preston Fore, Fortune, 27 Sep. 2025

While further research and genetic evidence will be necessary to confirm these findings, CBS News and BBC News report that this skull offers one of the most detailed glimpses yet into how our ancestors diversified and co-existed with sister species over the past million years. —Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 27 Sep. 2025

Next steps Van den Broeck says that while The Searchers’ slate for early 2026 is looking fairly mainstream, a longer-term goal is to diversify the slate into more non-English language fare and to specifically seek out French and Dutch-language titles that can work across the Benelux market. —Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 24 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English dyversefyen "to change, vary," borrowed from Anglo-French & Medieval Latin; Anglo-French diversefier, diversifier "to change, vary, be variable, be different," borrowed from Medieval Latin dīversificāre "to differentiate, differ, disagree, be at variance," verbal derivative of Late Latin dīversificus "varied," from Latin dīversus "turned in different directions, differing" + -i- -i- + -ficus -fic — more at diverse

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for diversify

• acidify
• alveoli
• areolae
• demystify
• detoxify
• disqualify
• electrify
• exemplify
• fasciculi
• identify
• indemnify
• intensify

Kids Definition

diversify

verb

di·​ver·​si·​fy də-ˈvər-sə-ˌfī 

dī-

diversified; diversifying

1

: to make diverse : give variety to

2

: to increase the variety of products of

diversify a business

diversification

-ˌvər-sə-fə-ˈkā-shən 

noun