diversity
英 [daɪ'vɜːsɪtɪ; dɪ-]
美 [dɪˈvəsɪti]
助记提示
1、di- "apart" + vers- + -ity.
2、含义：turn to different ways, turn to many or various by separate or apart.
3、该词在拉丁语中其实就是divert的过去分词，也就是说它来源于divert的拉丁语对应词的过去分词。由此取形容词词性并引申出如今的含义。
4、含义：quality of being diverse.
英文词源
- diversity (n.)
- mid-14c., "quality of being diverse," mostly in a neutral sense, from Old French diversité (12c.) "difference, diversity, unique feature, oddness:" also "wickedness, perversity," from Latin diversitatem (nominative diversitas) "contrariety, contradiction, disagreement;" also, as a secondary sense, "difference, diversity," from diversus "turned different ways" (in Late Latin "various"), past participle of divertere (see divert).
Negative meaning, "being contrary to what is agreeable or right; perversity, evil" existed in English from late 15c. but was obsolete from 17c. Diversity as a virtue in a nation is an idea from the rise of modern democracies in the 1790s, where it kept one faction from arrogating all power (but this was not quite the modern sense, as ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, etc. were not the qualities in mind):
The dissimilarity in the ingredients which will compose the national government, and still more in the manner in which they will be brought into action in its various branches, must form a powerful obstacle to a concert of views in any partial scheme of elections. There is sufficient diversity in the state of property, in the genius, manners, and habits of the people of the different parts of the Union, to occasion a material diversity of disposition in their representatives towards the different ranks and conditions in society. ["Federalist" #60, Feb. 26, 1788 (Hamilton)]
Specific focus (in a positive sense) on race, gender, etc. is from 1992.
双语例句
- 1. Few countries have as rich a diversity of habitat as South Africa.
- 几乎没有哪个国家像南非那样拥有如此多样化的动植物栖生地。
来自柯林斯例句
- 2. We have nothing against diversity; indeed, we want more of it.
- 我们一点都不抵触多样化；实际上，我们需要多样性更丰富一些。
来自柯林斯例句
- 3. Conservationists are mostly wedded to preserving diversity in nature.
- 自然环境保护主义者大多致力于保持物种的多样性。
来自柯林斯例句
- 4. Two of our greatest strengths are diversity and community.
- 我们最大的两个优势是多样性和团体精神。
来自柯林斯例句
- 5. Many employers seek diversity in their staffs.
- 很多雇主寻求雇员的多样性。
来自柯林斯例句
