Basic Details
Word: Disseminate
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: To spread information, ideas or knowledge widely so that many people receive it.
Synonyms: spread, circulate, distribute, broadcast
Antonyms: suppress, conceal, withhold
Word origin: From Latin disseminare, to scatter seed, from semen, seed.
How to Spell Disseminate
Syllables: dis - sem - i - nate
Tricky part: Here the s is doubled, because the root itself begins with s. The m stays single.
Watch out for: diseminate, dissemminate, disseminete
Memory tip: Break it into dis + semi + nate. The letters semi are spelt as in semicircle, though here they come from the Latin for seed, and the s of dis and the s of semi give you ss.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The school uses a text message group to disseminate news to parents.
Example 2: Scientists disseminate their findings by publishing papers.
Example 3: False rumours are disseminated very quickly on social media.
Fun Fact
Seminar and seminary come from Latin seminarium, a seed plot, built on the same seed word that lies behind disseminate.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
di_se_in_te
a) s, n, a
b) s, m, a
c) c, m, a
d) s, m, e
Show answer
b) s, m, a. Split it into dis, semi and nate: s, then m, then the a of nate.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word disseminate as used in the sentence:
Health workers used radio messages to disseminate advice about clean drinking water.
a) gather
b) translate
c) spread
d) suppress
Show answer
c) spread. To spread advice is to send it out widely; to suppress it would be to keep it back.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The club printed leaflets to timesansied news of the cleanliness drive.
a) disseminate
b) discriminate
c) eliminate
d) dissipate
Show answer
a) disseminate. Discriminate needs a c and an r, and dissipate and eliminate are shorter than the eleven-letter jumble.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A newspaper exists mainly to ____.
a) conceal news
b) disseminate news
c) invent news
d) delay news
Show answer
b) disseminate news
2. The closest opposite of disseminate is ____.
a) publish
b) withhold
c) share
d) announce
Show answer
b) withhold
