Translation guide
The act or state of spreading out, scattering, or distributing things over an area. In Japanese, the best word depends on what is being dispersed and how.
To describe things moving apart or being spread over an area, like seeds, light, or a crowd.
General term for dispersion, scattering, or decentralization. Used for particles, light, data, population, etc.
Light disperses through a prism.
The dispersion of the population is progressing.
Intransitive verb meaning to be scattered or spread out. Often used for physical objects like papers, leaves, or people.
Papers are scattered on the desk.
Transitive verb meaning to scatter or disperse something. Used when someone actively spreads things out.
The wind scatters the petals.
Diffusion or dispersion, often used in scientific contexts (e.g., gas, light, information). Implies spreading out from a source.
Ink diffuses in water.
In statistics, how spread out a set of values is.
When a group breaks up and individuals go in different directions.
The separation of light into its component colors, or the spreading of waves.
分散 (bunsan) is a general term for dispersion, scattering, or decentralization. 拡散 (kakusan) emphasizes diffusion or spreading out from a source, often used in scientific contexts like gas or information diffusion.
Information spreads (diffuses).
Diversify risk (spread it out).
For a group of people breaking up, use 解散 (kaisan) or 散り散りになる (chirijiri ni naru). 分散 would sound unnatural for a meeting or crowd.
この分布の分散を計算してください。
Please calculate the variance of this distribution.
The crowd dispersed in all directions.
分光器で光の分散を観察する。
Observe the dispersion of light with a spectroscope.