Dispersive

2 definitions found

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

  Dispersive \Dis*pers"ive\, a.
     Tending to disperse.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {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. --
        {Dis*pers"ive*ness}, n.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  dispersive
       adj 1: spreading by diffusion [syn: {diffusing(a)}, {diffusive}, {disseminative},
               {disseminating}, {scattering}, {spreading}]
       2: tending to disperse [syn: {distributive}]