Spanish Word of the Day Archive
Friday October 17, 2008

desviar, verb:
to divert

The central meaning of desviar is to divert. It can either be literal:

Desvían la circulación.
Traffic is being diverted.

(notice the accent on the letter i of desviar in the previous example)
Or it can be metaphorical:

Quería desviar mi atención.
He wanted to divert my attention.

The reflexive form desviarse has both literal and metaphorical meanings as well:

No debes desviarte de la carretera principal.
You mustn’t turn off the main road.

Nos estamos desviando del tema.
We’re getting off the point.

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Spanish Word of the Day ArchiveFriday October 17, 2008