diversity

From Middle English diversite, from Old French diversité, from Latin dīversitās.

• IPA^(key): /daɪˈvɜː(ɹ)sɪti/, /dɪˈvɜː(ɹ)sɪti/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

diversity (countable and uncountable, plural diversities)

1. The quality of being diverse or different; difference or unlikeness.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nonuniformity

2. A variety; diverse types or examples.

   Synonym: selection

   • 2013 July 26, Nick Miroff, “Mexico gets a taste for eating insects …”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 32:

     The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters such as ostrich, wild boar and crocodile. Only the city zoo offers greater species diversity.

3. (chiefly business) Equal-opportunity inclusion.
   • 2003, Adalberto Aguirre, Racial and Ethnic Diversity in America: A Reference Handbook (page 72)

     Bakke has shaped a precarious context for diversity initiatives in higher education. On the one hand, the U.S. Supreme Court has reasoned that race may serve a purpose in the admissions process; however, race may not be used as a corrective measure, such as by establishing quotas.

   • 2021 November 11, Jay Caspian Kang, “Can We Talk About Critical Race Theory?”, in The New York Times‎, ISSN 0362-4331:

     Diversity is now a big industry — about $8 billion per year gets spent on diversity trainings in America — and parents might be feeling blindsided by the rapid changes, many of which came after last year’s George Floyd protests.

• diverse
• divert
• divers