-ēˌāt, usu -ād.+V verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Latin permeatus, past participle of permeare, from per- through + meare to go, pass; akin to Middle Welsh mynet to go, Old Slavic minǫti to go past, pass
intransitive verb
: to diffuse through or penetrate something
liquid permeating through the porous substance
transitive verb
1. : to spread or diffuse through
the air is permeated by the pungent scent of tobacco — American Guide Series: North Carolina
an atmosphere of distrust … has been allowed to permeate the government — Vannevar Bush
2. : to pass through the pores or interstices of : penetrate and pass through without causing rupture or displacement — used especially of a fluid that passes through substances of loose texture
water permeates sand
Synonyms:
permeate , pervade , penetrate , impenetrate , interpenetrate , impregnate , and saturate can mean, in common, to pass or cause to pass through every part of a thing, literally or figuratively. permeate implies diffusion through the total or all the pores or interstices of a substance or entity
a green dye permeating a garment
a pleasant smell which permeated the shop from morning till night — Ben Riker
the entire Divine Comedy is permeated with the spirit of courtly love — R.A.Hall b.1911
how deeply the sense of beauty had permeated the whole nation — Laurence Binyon
their tribes gradually became permeated with a good deal of Chinese culture — Owen & Eleanor Lattimore
pervade , close to permeate , stresses a spreading diffusion throughout every part of a whole
I want kindness and tolerance to pervade the earth — F.A.Swinnerton
an eerie silence pervades the place — Lewis Mumford
the artistry of this first chapter … pervades and illumines the entire novel — G.H.Genzmer
the influence of Descartes pervades economics even today — Phoebe T. Danière
penetrate in this context implies the entrance of something that goes deep and transmits its characteristic or efficient force throughout
a commanding significance, which penetrates the whole, informing and ordering everything — F.R.Leavis
the whole poem is penetrated with religion — G.G.Coulton
the remains of the aristocratic society … are penetrated not only with an aristocratic but with a political spirit — Walter Bagehot
impenetrate is an intensive of penetrate , often throwing more stress on the idea of diffusion than of entrance
some coloring substance with which the liquid was impenetrated
interpenetrate , an intensive of penetrate , can also apply to the mutual penetration of two substances or entities
it overlaps and interpenetrates every other major field of human enterprise — Thomas Munro
the way in which the Bible — and the Book of Common Prayer — have interpenetrated English life — Douglas Bush
the air and the earth interpenetrated in the warm gusts of spring; the soil was full of sunlight, and the sunlight full of red dust — Willa Cather
the organization of the sonnet often demands that the discourse and the moral should interpenetrate — Iain Fletcher
impregnate can strongly imply a causative power and stress a strong influence or effect on a thing or diffusion of something within it to the point of pervasion of all parts of the whole
the water is impregnated with magnesia — Aldous Huxley
the air is impregnated with a sort of frigid clamminess — E.A.Robinson
from his environment the boy had been thoroughly impregnated with what was to become the prevailing American doctrine — Harriot B.Barbour
saturate in this context implies impregnation, usually by something obvious or overabundant, to the point where nothing more may be taken up or absorbed
the air is warm, thick, sticky, and … saturated with vegetable odours — E.J.Banfield
the air is saturated with golden light — Gertrude Diamant
grew up in an atmosphere saturated by the strictest Puritan dogma and doctrine — David Fairchild
verse that is saturated with emotion — J.L.Lowes
the lugubrious vigilance that saturates the whole document — J.V.Kelleher