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divergence

divergence

9 7.1
A difference from a standard or expected result
  • noun
  • /dɪˈvɜrdʒəns/
translation icon : desviación
  • Third, on its face, this set of paradoxes implies an increased divergence in Canadian and American industrial relations.
  • divergence from the mean
  • significant divergence
  • convergence and divergence

Examples

  • The Israelis, in particular, are able to exploit even the slightest divergence of views between American leaders.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Some argue that this stark divergence in results is symptomatic of a deeper problem.

    Academic text (1992)
  • The two previous parts demonstrate a divergence on a fundamental question of fact: What is marriage?

    Academic text (2008)
  • Indeed, evidence is available suggesting even greater divergence of Canadian and U.S. input and output prices in recent years.

    Academic text (2005)
  • The three measures begin to diverge in 2000, with the divergence becoming serious in 2002.

    Academic text (2004)
  • The chi-square differences showing the most divergence from the expected (Table 4) fell into four categories.

    Academic text (2005)
  • The extension taxonomies will provide considerable informational value on the divergence of a company's published financial statements from the standard taxonomy.

    Academic text (2005)
  • There is a noticeable divergence in the voting patterns between the two regions during the election.

  • The study highlighted the divergence of opinions among experts regarding climate change solutions.

  • In her research, she noted the divergence in behavior of the groups compared to the established norms.

Synonyms

difference
vsdivergence
1.0

A way of showing how much two or more things are not the same

is narrower, centering on deviation from a norm or expected value
departure
vsdivergence
52 3.7

A change from what is usual, often in style

is more about change from a standard or an expected value
deviation
vsdivergence
25 5.3

A difference from what is usual or expected

is broader, applying also to norms and expected numerical values
deviancy
vsdivergence
  • Specialized
8.4

How much something differs from a standard or what was expected

focuses on the general difference rather than just its measured amount

Antonyms

24 4.8

A state of behaving and thinking like most people or like rules say

How Different

anomaly
165 7.1
outlier
  • Specialized
35 6.7
divergence
9 7.1
deviation
25 5.3
variation
113 3.0

Surface Forms

divergence singular
divergences plural

Morphology

divergence = diverge (transparent) = diverge + ence

A direct nominalization of 'diverge' expressing a difference or deviation; the meaning follows standard derivational patterns.

Etymology

Divergence comes from Latin parts di- 'apart' and vergere 'to turn', so it literally means 'turning apart'. Think of a score or result that 'turns away' from the usual value—you can see this in the verb divert—and that is why divergence means a difference or deviation from a standard.