Definition of Diffusion

1. Noun. (physics) the process in which there is movement of a substance from an area of high concentration of that substance to an area of lower concentration.

Category relationships: Natural Philosophy, Physics
Generic synonyms: Action, Activity, Natural Action, Natural Process
Specialized synonyms: Osmosis, Permeation, Pervasion, Suffusion, Transport

2. Noun. The spread of social institutions (and myths and skills) from one society to another.
Generic synonyms: Spread, Spreading
Category relationships: Mythology

3. Noun. The property of being diffused or dispersed.
Exact synonyms: Dissemination
Generic synonyms: Dispersion, Distribution
Derivative terms: Disseminate

4. Noun. The act of dispersing or diffusing something. "The diffusion of knowledge"
Exact synonyms: Dispersal, Dispersion, Dissemination
Generic synonyms: Spread, Spreading
Specialized synonyms: Crop-dusting, Spraying
Derivative terms: Diffuse, Diffuse, Diffuse, Disperse, Disperse, Disperse, Disseminate

Definition of Diffusion

1. n. The act of diffusing, or the state of being diffused; a spreading; extension; dissemination; circulation; dispersion.

Definition of Diffusion

1. Noun. the act of diffusing or dispersing something, or the property of being diffused or dispersed; dispersion ¹

2. Noun. (physics) the scattering of light by reflection from a rough surface, or by passage through a translucent medium ¹

3. Noun. (physics) the intermingling of the molecules of a fluid due to random thermal agitation ¹

4. Noun. the spread of cultural or linguistic practices, or social institutions, in one or more communities ¹

5. Noun. (context: physics weather) Exchange of airborne media between regions in space in an apparently random motion of a small scale. ¹

6. Noun. the movement of water vapor from regions of high concentration (high water vapor pressure) toward regions of lower concentration. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Diffusion

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Diffusion

1. The process of becoming diffused or widely spread, the spontaneous movement of molecules or other particles in solution, owing to their random thermal motion, to reach a uniform concentration throughout the solvent, a process requiring no addition of energy to the system. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Diffusion

diffuser
diffusers
diffuses
diffusest
diffuseth
diffusibilities
diffusibility
diffusible
diffusible stimulant
diffusibleness
diffusing
diffusing(a)
diffusing capacity
diffusing factor
diffusing screen
diffusion (current term)
diffusion-barrier
diffusion anoxia
diffusion coefficient
diffusion constant
diffusion hypoxia
diffusion limitation
diffusion method
diffusion of innovation
diffusion potential
diffusion pump
diffusion respiration
diffusion shell
diffusional
diffusionism

Literary usage of Diffusion

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Text-book of physiology: For Medical Students and Physicians by William Henry Howell (1915)
"diffusion of Proteins.—This simple explanation on purely physical grounds of the flow of material between the blood and the tissues can only be applied, ..."

2. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London by Royal Society (Great Britain) (1907)
"Phenomena in the diffusion of Electrolytes. ... EXPERIMENTS ON THE diffusion OF ACIDS INTO JELLIES. As several hundred observations were recorded with ..."

3. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General by Thomas Spencer Baynes (1888)
"Thus Fick has determined the coefficient of diffusion for common salt in water to be 0-00000116, and Voit has found that of cane-sugar to be 0-00000365. ..."

4. The Journal of Experimental Medicine by Rockefeller University, Rockefeller Institute, Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (1906)
"The results of the present work not only confirm the view there expressed, namely, that colloidal substances reduce the degree and rapidity of diffusion of ..."

5. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and (1910)
"The rate of diffusion is much the same for both positive and negative plates; ... Discharge affects the rate ol diffusion on the lead plate more than on the ..."

6. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences by Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (U.S.) (1833)
"The former experimented upon the power with which the diffusion was accomplished, and the rate for different gases; the latter upon a total effect, namely, ..."

7. Nature by Nature Publishing Group, Norman Lockyer (1879)
"A POINT AFFECTING THE diffusion OF THE GASES OF THE ATMOSPHERE IN RELATION TO HEALTH THE great importance in relation to health of the part played by the ..."

8. A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism by James Clerk Maxwell (1892)
"In the next place, the time requisite for the production of an assigned stage in the process of diffusion is proportional to the square of the linear ..."

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