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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
Nilay Patel, The Verge, 3 Oct. 2024
That sense of entitlement pervaded their complaints.
—Joseph Thorndike, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
History has a warning This has added to a pervading sense that Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militant group which for decades dominated the country’s politics, had swiftly become a ghost organization.
—Tamara Qiblawi, CNN, 29 Sep. 2024
Still, science and pharmacology pervaded everything.
—Katie Hafner, Scientific American, 19 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pervade 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pervade.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Pervade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pervade. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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