Dispersion

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              The days of your slaughter and of your dispersions
              are accomplished.                     --Jer. xxv.
                                                    34.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Opt.) The separation of light into its different colored
        rays, arising from their different refrangibilities.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {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.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  dispersion
       n 1: spreading widely or driving off [syn: {scattering}]
       2: the spatial property of being scattered about over an area
          or volume [syn: {distribution}] [ant: {concentration}]
       3: the act of dispersing or diffusing something; "the
          dispersion of the troops"; "the diffusion of knowledge"
          [syn: {dispersal}, {dissemination}, {diffusion}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  112 Moby Thesaurus words for "dispersion":
     addition, adjunct, administration, aggrandizement, aloofness,
     ampliation, amplification, anarchy, augmentation, blackout,
     blocking, breakup, broadening, chaos, confusion, crescendo,
     deactivation, deflection, deflexure, dematerialization,
     demobilization, departure, deployment, detachment, diaspora,
     diffraction, diffusion, disappearance, disappearing, disbandment,
     disbursal, disbursement, discontinuity, discreteness,
     disintegration, disjunction, dislocation, dismissal, disorder,
     disorganization, dispensation, dispersal, disposal, disposition,
     dissipation, dissolution, dissolving, distortion, distribution,
     dole, doling, doling out, eclipse, elimination, emanation,
     enlargement, entropy, erasure, evanescence, evaporation, expansion,
     extension, extinction, fadeaway, fadeout, fading, fanning out,
     flare, flection, flexure, giving out, going, hiking, incoherence,
     inconsistency, increase, issuance, magnification, melting,
     nonadhesion, noncohesion, occultation, parting, passing,
     passing around, paying out, radiance, radiation, radius, raising,
     ray, refraction, release, scatter, scattering, separateness,
     separation, skewness, splay, split-up, spoke, spread, spreading,
     torsion, unadherence, unadhesiveness, untenacity, upping,
     vanishing, vanishing point, widening, wipe
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Dispersion
     (Gr. diaspora, "scattered," James 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:1) of the Jews.
     At various times, and from the operation of divers causes, the
     Jews were separated and scattered into foreign countries "to the
     outmost parts of heaven" (Deut. 30:4).
     
       (1.) Many were dispersed over Assyria, Media, Babylonia, and
     Persia, descendants of those who had been transported thither by
     the Exile. The ten tribes, after existing as a separate kingdom
     for two hundred and fifty-five years, were carried captive (B.C.
     721) by Shalmaneser (or Sargon), king of Assyria. They never
     returned to their own land as a distinct people, although many
     individuals from among these tribes, there can be no doubt,
     joined with the bands that returned from Babylon on the
     proclamation of Cyrus.
     
       (2.) Many Jews migrated to Egypt and took up their abode
     there. This migration began in the days of Solomon (2 Kings
     18:21, 24; Isa. 30:7). Alexander the Great placed a large number
     of Jews in Alexandria, which he had founded, and conferred on
     them equal rights with the Egyptians. Ptolemy Philadelphus, it
     is said, caused the Jewish Scriptures to be translated into
     Greek (the work began B.C. 284), for the use of the Alexandrian
     Jews. The Jews in Egypt continued for many ages to exercise a
     powerful influence on the public interests of that country. From
     Egypt they spread along the coast of Africa to Cyrene (Acts
     2:10) and to Ethiopia (8:27).
     
       (3.) After the time of Seleucus Nicator (B.C. 280), one of the
     captains of Alexander the Great, large numbers of Jews migrated
     into Syria, where they enjoyed equal rights with the
     Macedonians. From Syria they found their way into Asia Minor.
     Antiochus the Great, king of Syria and Asia, removed 3,000
     families of Jews from Mesopotamia and Babylonia, and planted
     them in Phrygia and Lydia.
     
       (4.) From Asia Minor many Jews moved into Greece and
     Macedonia, chiefly for purposes of commerce. In the apostles'
     time they were found in considerable numbers in all the
     principal cities.
     
       From the time of Pompey the Great (B.C. 63) numbers of Jews
     from Palestine and Greece went to Rome, where they had a
     separate quarter of the city assigned to them. Here they enjoyed
     considerable freedom.
     
       Thus were the Jews everywhere scattered abroad. This, in the
     overruling providence of God, ultimately contributed in a great
     degree toward opening the way for the spread of the gospel into
     all lands.
     
       Dispersion, from the plain of Shinar. This was occasioned by
     the confusion of tongues at Babel (Gen. 11:9). They were
     scattered abroad "every one after his tongue, after their
     families, in their nations" (Gen. 10:5, 20,31).
     
       The tenth chapter of Genesis gives us an account of the
     principal nations of the earth in their migrations from the
     plain of Shinar, which was their common residence after the
     Flood. In general, it may be said that the descendants of
     Japheth were scattered over the north, those of Shem over the
     central regions, and those of Ham over the extreme south. The
     following table shows how the different families were dispersed:
     |       - Japheth
     |          - Gomer
     |              Cimmerians, Armenians
     |          - Magog
     |              Caucasians, Scythians
     |          - Madal
     |              Medes and Persian tribes
     |          - Javan
     |              - Elishah
     |                  Greeks
     |              - Tarshish
     |                  Etruscans, Romans
     |              - Chittim
     |                  Cyprians, Macedonians
     |              - Dodanim
     |                  Rhodians
     |          - Tubal
     |              Tibareni, Tartars
     |          - Mechech
     |              Moschi, Muscovites
     |          - Tiras
     |              Thracians
     |
     |       - Shem
     |          - Elam
     |              Persian tribes
     |          - Asshur
     |              Assyrian
     |          - Arphaxad
     |              - Abraham
     |                  - Isaac
     |                      - Jacob
     |                          Hebrews
     |                      - Esau
     |                          Edomites
     |                  - Ishmael
     |                      Mingled with Arab tribes
     |          - Lud
     |              Lydians
     |          - Aram
     |              Syrians
     |
     |       - Ham
     |          - Cush
     |              Ethiopans
     |          - Mizrain
     |              Egyptians
     |          - Phut
     |              Lybians, Mauritanians
     |          - Canaan
     |              Canaanites, Phoenicians