Disperple
(Dis*per"ple) v. t. [OF. desparpeulier.] To scatter; to sprinkle. [Obs.]
Odorous water was
Disperpled lightly on my head and neck.
Chapman. Dispersal
(Dis*per"sal) n. The act or result of dispersing or scattering; dispersion. Darwin.
Disperse
(Dis*perse") v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dispersed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Dispersing.] [L. dispersus, p.
p. of dispergere to strew, scatter. See Sparse.]
1. To scatter abroad; to drive to different parts; to distribute; to diffuse; to spread; as, the Jews are dispersed
among all nations.
The lips of the wise disperse knowledge.
Prov. xv. 7.
Two lions, in the still, dark night,
A herd of beeves disperse.
Cowper. 2. To scatter, so as to cause to vanish; to dissipate; as, to disperse vapors.
Dispersed are the glories.
Shak. Syn. — To scatter; dissipate; dispel; spread; diffuse; distribute; deal out; disseminate.
Disperse
(Dis*perse"), v. i.
1. To separate; to go or move into different parts; to vanish; as, the company dispersed at ten o'clock; the
clouds disperse.
2. To distribute wealth; to share one's abundance with others.
He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor.
Ps. cxii. 9. Dispersed
(Dis*persed") a. Scattered. — Dis*pers"ed*ly adv. — Dis*pers"ed*ness, n.
Dispersed harmony (Mus.), harmony in which the tones composing the chord are widely separated,
as by an octave or more.
Disperseness
(Dis*perse"ness) n. Dispersedness. [Obs.]
Disperser
(Dis*pers"er) n. One that disperses.
Dispersion
(Dis*per"sion) n. [Cf. F. dispersion.]
1. The act or process of scattering or dispersing, or the state of being scattered or separated; as, the
Jews in their dispersion retained their rites and ceremonies; a great dispersion of the human family took
place at the building of Babel.
The days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished.
Jer. xxv. 34. 2. (Opt.) The separation of light into its different colored rays, arising from their different refrangibilities.
Dispersion of the optic axes (Crystallog.), the separation of the optic axes in biaxial crystals, due to
the fact that the axial angle has different values for the different colors of the spectrum.
Dispersive
(Dis*pers"ive) a. Tending to disperse.
Dispersive power (Opt.), the relative effect of a material in separating the different rays of light by
refraction, as when the substance is formed into a prism.
