看得見的分開：路、線、數字
這一組就是核心畫面本身，東西是實際存在、可以指出來的：兩條路、圖表上的兩條線、一串數字的走向。
verb · B2
If two roads, paths, or lines diverge, they run together up to a point and then separate, each going off in its own direction.
分岔
核心畫面
One way to hold this word: two lines travelling together, reaching one point, and from there leaning away from each other so the gap between them keeps opening. Nothing jumps; the separation is gradual and it starts somewhere you can name. Every use keeps that shape — two trails at a , two languages after a few centuries, two accounts of the same evening, or a row of numbers that never comes home to one value.
可以想成兩條線本來並著走，走到某一個點之後開始各自彎開，中間的縫隙越拉越大。它不是突然斷掉，而是慢慢張開；而且通常說…更多收起
可以想成兩條線本來並著走，走到某一個點之後開始各自彎開，中間的縫隙越拉越大。它不是突然斷掉，而是慢慢張開；而且通常說得出「從哪裡開始分」。diverge 的各種用法看起來都還保著這個形狀——標示牌前分岔的兩條步道、幾百年後長得不一樣的兩種語言、對同一個晚上兜不攏的兩種說法，還有一串永遠停不到一個數上的數字。From the word’s history
Medieval Latin divergo, from Latin di- (apart) plus vergo (to bend or lean). The literal sense is to bend away in different directions, which is the picture the modern word still carries.
Wiktionary 記的是中世紀拉丁文 dīvergō，由拉丁文 dī-（分開）加上 vergō（傾斜、彎過去）組成，字面上就是「往不同方向彎出去」。今天這個字用的仍然是同一個畫面。
Wiktionary, via packet evidence source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:843365431 — 「From Medieval Latin dīvergō (bend away from, go in a different direction), from Latin dī- + vergō (bend).」
Two branches
抽象的分開：本來一樣的，後來不一樣
把兩條線換成兩件看不見的東西——兩種語言、兩個人的職涯、兩種說法。線還在，只是要用時間或內容去看它張開多少。
verb · C1
If two or more things that started out similar diverge, they change in different directions over time, so that they become less and less alike.
分化／漸行漸遠