diverse

adj

1. Consisting of different elements; various.
2. Capable of or having various forms in different situations or at different times; multiform.

   “[T]he diverse mone abowt, / Now bryght, now browne, now bent, now full, and now her lyght is owt.”

   “Eloquence is a great and diverse thing.”

3. Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word: of a community, organization, etc.: composed of people with a variety of different demographic characteristics such as ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status; especially, having a sizeable representation of people who are minorities in the community, organization, etc.

   “The stage reflected the increasingly diverse Democratic party in which women and people of color are ascendant. Three women – two more than have ever shared a stage during a presidential primary debate and one of whom is Hindu – a Latino former congressman and a black senator participated.”

4. Not the same; different, dissimilar, distinct.

   “And they gaue them drinke in veſſels of gold, (the veſſels being diuers one from another) and royall wine in abundance, according to the ſtate of the king.”

   “[T]h' old Chäos (vvombe of th' Universe) / VVas never made of Members more diverſe.”

   “But it muſt be obſerved concerning moral Inability, in each Kind of it, that the VVord Inability is uſed in a Senſe very diverſe from its original Import. […] The VVord ſignifies only a natural Inability, in the proper Uſe of it; […] It can't be truly ſaid, according to the ordinary Uſe of Language, that a malicious Man, let him be never ſo malicious, can't hold his Hand from ſtriking, […]”

   “‘Our roads are diverse: farewell, love!’ said she. / ‘’Tis duty I abide by: homely sward / And not the rock-rough picturesque for me![’]”

   “Intelligence contemplates all it sees— / Albeit but a point in the infinite / Universe—with but two rays of light, / Which illustrate diversest destinies; […]”

5. (nonstandard)Of a person: belonging to a minority group.

   “The Board's [i.e., Board of Governors'] goal is to commit to doubling the number of women and diverse members of the Academy by 2020.”

   “Here to comment is diverse Congresswoman from Ohio—please welcome representative Marcia Fudge.”

   “[Mike] Richards came under fierce criticism since he was formally hired to emcee the legendary quiz show, with some longtime fans saying they believed the producers should have selected a more diverse candidate for the job, such as the actor and presenter LeVar Burton.”

6. (obsolete)Differing from what is good or right, or beneficial; bad, evil; harmful.

   “This kyng Edward the .ii. father to the noble kyng Edward the .iii. had .ii. bretherñ⸝ the one called Marſhall⸝ who was ryght wyld ⁊ diuers of condicions⸝ the other called ſir Aymon erle of Cane right wyse⸝ amiable⸝ gẽtle [gentle] and wellbeloued with al people.”

   “[Y]ou that beſt ſhould teach vs, / Haue miſdemean'd your ſelfe, and not a little: / Tovvard the King firſt, then his Lavves, in filling / The vvhole Realme, by your teaching & your Chaplaines / (for ſo vve are inform'd) vvith nevv opinions, / Diuers and dangerous; vvhich are Hereſies; / And not reform'd, may proue pernicious.”

7. (obsolete)Having different colours; mottled, variegated.
8. (obsolete, rare)Causing one to be indecisive between different viewpoints.

   “So many pathes, ſo many turnings ſeene, / That vvhich of them to take, in diuerſe doubt they been.”

adv

1. (obsolete)Synonym of diversely (“in different directions”).

   “[The river in the Garden of Eden] novv divided into four main Streams, / Runs divers, vvandring many a famous Realme / And Country vvhereof here needs no account, […]”

   “The Gourd, / And thirſty Cucumer, vvhen they perceive / Th' approaching Olive, vvith Reſentment fly / Her fatty Fibres, and vvith Tendrils creep / Diverſe, deteſting Contact; […]”

   “To ſeize his papers, Curl, vvas next thy care; / His papers light, fly diverſe, toſt in air: […]”

verb

1. (transitive)Synonym of diversify.

   “I Dyuerſe[,] I make difference⸝ Ie diuerſifie, prime coniu.”

   “In the Eocene, when the Old World and American mammal fauna were more nearly related, we have a hypothetical genus, Archipithecus, from which diversed a branch giving rise to the platyrhine apes, the families Cebidæ and Hapalidæ.”

   “Nature does have a way of altering and diversing wetlands, streams and portholes through a period of a long range of years.”

2. (transitive)Synonym of diversify.

   “The investors in the SPC [special purpose company] derive their return, and well as diversing their risk, from three factors.”

3. (intransitive, obsolete, rare)To go a different route or way from someone else; to diverge, to separate.

   “Then each to other vvell affectionate, / Friendſhip profeſſed vvith vnfained hart, / The Redcroſſe knight diuerſt, but forth rode Britomart.”

   “We regret that the gentleman diversed so widely from the subject before the committee.”