n. 1. a. The act or process of diverging. b. The state of being divergent. c. The degree by which things diverge. 2. A departure from a norm; a deviation. See Synonyms at deviation. 3. A difference between or among items: "riven as the country was with competing interests and a wide divergence of incomes and ambitions" (James Conaway). See Synonyms at difference. 4. Biology The evolutionary tendency or process by which animals or plants that are descended from a common ancestor evolve into different forms when living under different conditions. 5. Mathematics The property or manner of diverging; failure to approach a limit. 6. Physiology A turning of both eyes outward from a common point or of one eye when the other is fixed. 7. Meteorology A condition characterized by the uniform expansion in volume of a mass of air over a region, usually accompanied by fair dry weather. |
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