🔊 Listen to the word Permeate

PUR-mee-ayt

Definition

(verb) To spread throughout something; to penetrate and pass through every part of something.

Example

The smell of woodsmoke had permeated the entire cabin by morning, clinging to every curtain, cushion, and piece of clothing inside.

Word Origin

From Latin permeare, meaning “to pass through” — formed from per- (through) + meare (to pass or go). The root meare is relatively rare in English derivatives but also appears in permeability and impermeable. The word entered English in the mid-17th century, initially used in scientific contexts to describe fluids passing through porous materials before broadening into general use.