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English speakers borrowed pervade in the mid-17th century from Latin pervadere, meaning "to go through." Pervadere, in turn, was formed by combining the prefix per-, meaning "through," with the verb vadere, meaning "to go." Synonyms of pervade include permeate, impregnate, and saturate. Pervade stresses a spreading diffusion throughout every part of a whole ("art and music pervade every aspect of their lives"). Permeate implies diffusion specifically throughout a material thing ("the smell of freshly baked bread permeated the house"). Impregnate suggests a forceful influence or effect on something throughout ("impregnate the cotton with alcohol"). Saturate is used when nothing more may be taken up or absorbed ("the cloth is saturated with water").
Synonyms
Examples of pervade in a Sentence
Armond White, National Review, 31 Jan. 2025
The tyranny immigrants experience should end, their economic potential harnessed and the ignorance that pervades attitudes about immigration should be snuffed out.
—London School Of Economics, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
Our food environments—the type and quality of food that pervades our schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods—influence our diets as much as our tastes do.
—Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025
The friendliness is by both circumstance and design, pervading everything.
—Grayson Haver Currin, Outside Online, 24 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Pervade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pervade. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.
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