Word of the Day

verb

Jennifer's new perfume was lovely, but she applied it with such a generous hand that the scent pervaded the entire room.

"Lowballing pervades the home mortgage market because lenders being compared to other lenders usually have no other way to distinguish themselves." — From an article by Jack Guttentag in Inman News, March 5, 2012

English speakers borrowed "pervade" in the mid-17th century from Latin "pervadere," meaning "to go through." "Pervadere," in turn, was formed by combining the prefix "per-," meaning "through," with the verb "vadere," meaning "to go." Synonyms of "pervade" include "permeate," "impregnate," and "saturate." "Pervade" stresses a spreading diffusion throughout every part of a whole ("art and music pervade every aspect of their lives"). "Permeate" implies diffusion specifically throughout a material thing ("a green dye permeating a garment"). "Impregnate" suggests a forceful influence or effect on something throughout ("impregnate the cotton with alcohol"). "Saturate" is used when nothing more may be taken up or absorbed ("cloth saturated with water").

Word Family Quiz: What relative of "pervade" begins with "e" and can mean "to manage to avoid"? The answer is ...

Visit our archives to see previous selections »

Can you say "cuteness"?

The "\'kyüt-nəs\" onesie

Browse all items »

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP