DIFFUSION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does diffusion mean? 

• DIFFUSION (noun)
  The noun DIFFUSION has 4 senses:

1. (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

2. the spread of social institutions (and myths and skills) from one society to another

3. the property of being diffused or dispersed

4. the act of dispersing or diffusing something

  Familiarity information: DIFFUSION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DIFFUSION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("diffusion" is a kind of...):

action; activity; natural action; natural process (a process existing in or produced by nature (rather than by the intent of human beings))

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "diffusion"):

osmosis ((biology, chemistry) diffusion of molecules through a semipermeable membrane from a place of higher concentration to a place of lower concentration until the concentration on both sides is equal)

permeation; pervasion; suffusion (the process of permeating or infusing something with a substance)

transport (an exchange of molecules (and their kinetic energy and momentum) across the boundary between adjacent layers of a fluid or across cell membranes)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The spread of social institutions (and myths and skills) from one society to another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("diffusion" is a kind of...):

spread; spreading (process or result of distributing or extending over a wide expanse of space)

Domain category:

mythology (myths collectively; the body of stories associated with a culture or institution or person)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The property of being diffused or dispersed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

diffusion; dissemination

Hypernyms ("diffusion" is a kind of...):

dispersion; distribution (the spatial or geographic property of being scattered about over a range, area, or volume)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The act of dispersing or diffusing something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

diffusion; dispersal; dispersion; dissemination

Context example:

the diffusion of knowledge

Hypernyms ("diffusion" is a kind of...):

spread; spreading (act of extending over a wider scope or expanse of space or time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "diffusion"):

crop-dusting; spraying (the dispersion of fungicides or insecticides or fertilizer on growing crops (often from a low-flying aircraft))

Derivation:

diffuse (cause to become widely known)

diffuse (spread or diffuse through)

diffuse (move outward)

 Context examples 

Administration of through the diffusion of substance through a membrane in an electric field.

(Electro-osmosis Route of Administration, Food and Drug Administration/CDISC)

Gemifloxacin enters bacterial cells by diffusion through integral membrane porin pathway before targeting both DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV, two enzymes critical for DNA replication and repair.

(Gemifloxacin, NCI Thesaurus)

Administration of drug by way of diffusion, through a membrane in an electric field.

(Electro-osmosis Route of Administration, NCI Thesaurus)

Like other glucocorticoids, diflorasone enters the cell by diffusion across the cell membrane and binds to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in the cytoplasm.

(Diflorasone, NCI Thesaurus)

There seemed a general diffusion of cheerfulness on the occasion.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Vascular remodeling is an important component to tumorigenesis; without proper blood supply, delivery of oxygen may occur by diffusion, but becomes inefficient in tumors greater than 1 mm in diameter.

(Hypoxia-Inducible Factor Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

IGF-1R/AS ODN pre-treated glioma cells encapsulated in small Lucite diffusion chambers are implanted into a subcutaneous pocket in the patient's abdominal rectus sheath.

(IGF-1R Antisense Oligodeoxynucleotide-treated Autologous Glioma Cells, NCI Thesaurus)

Diffusion of molecules through a semipermeable membrane from a place of higher concentration to a place of lower concentration until the concentration on both sides is equal.

(Osmosis, NCI Thesaurus)

The process of the diffusion or accumulation in a tissue or cells of a substance not normal to it or in amounts above normal.

(Infiltration, NCI Thesaurus)

A property of tissues such that a substance shows variable rates of diffusion in different spatial dimensions.

(Diffusion Anisotropy, NCI Thesaurus)