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.
光がプリズムで分散する。
Light disperses through a prism.
人口の分散が進んでいる。
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.
机の上に書類が散らばっている。
Papers are scattered on the desk.
Transitive verb meaning to scatter or disperse something. Used when someone actively spreads things out.
風が花びらを散らす。
The wind scatters the petals.
Diffusion or dispersion, often used in scientific contexts (e.g., gas, light, information). Implies spreading out from a source.
インクが水中で拡散する。
Ink diffuses in water.
In statistics, how spread out a set of values is.
Common term for variability or scatter in data. Used in everyday and technical contexts.
データのばらつきが大きい。
The dispersion of the data is large.
Specifically 'variance' in statistics, but also used more broadly for dispersion.
When a group breaks up and individuals go in different directions.
Breaking up or dispersing of a gathering, meeting, or group. Often used for formal disbandment.
集会は午後5時に解散した。
The meeting dispersed at 5 p.m.
Idiomatic phrase meaning to scatter in all directions, often used for people fleeing or dispersing chaotically.
群衆は散り散りになった。
The crowd dispersed in all directions.
The separation of light into its component colors, or the spreading of waves.
Used in physics for chromatic dispersion or wave dispersion.
光の分散によって虹ができる。
A rainbow is formed by the dispersion of light.
Spectroscopy or splitting light into a spectrum. More technical.
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.
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.
分光器で光の分散を観察する。
Observe the dispersion of light with a spectroscope.