What does pervade mean?
Word: Pervade
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Pervade means to spread through every part of a place or thing.
How do you spell pervade?
Syllables: per - vade
Tricky part: The opening could just as well be spelt pur, as in purple, and pupils often write it that way. It is per.
Watch out for: purvade, pirvade
Memory tip: Link it to per cent: a smell that pervades reaches a hundred per cent of the room.
Pervade in a sentence
Example 1: The smell of frying onions pervaded the whole house.
Example 2: A sense of calm pervades the old library.
Example 3: Gentle humour pervades all her stories.
Fun Fact
The word came into English in the 1600s from a Latin verb meaning 'to go through', and that is just what a good smell does as it moves from room to room.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
pervadde
a) r
b) p
c) d
d) v
Show answer
c) d. One d is all this word holds.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
By the second week of the holidays a feeling of boredom began to pervaid the hostel, so the warden organised a table tennis contest.
a) pervaid
b) warden
c) boredom
d) contest
Show answer
a) pervaid. Its closing sound is spelt as in fade.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word pervade as used in the sentence:
The scent of jasmine can pervade the whole courtyard on a warm night.
a) cool
b) vacate
c) sharpen
d) permeate
Show answer
d) permeate. Permeate also means to spread to every part of a place.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. pervade 2. evaparate 3. saturait 4. sprinkel
a) to be felt or noticed all around a place
b) to scatter small drops over something
c) to turn from a liquid into a gas
d) to make something completely wet
Show answer
a) to be felt or noticed all around a place. Saturate ends in ate, sprinkle ends in le, and evaporate has an o after the p.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A mood of excitement pervaded the school before Sports Day. Who felt it?
a) only the winners of the races
b) just the teachers in the staff room
c) almost everyone in the building
d) a few pupils in one classroom
Show answer
c) almost everyone in the building
2. Which line shows that music pervades a town?
a) A band plays once a year at the town hall.
b) One old man sells records near the station.
c) You hear it at every corner and on every bus.
d) The music school closed down long ago.
Show answer
c) You hear it at every corner and on every bus.
