Turned away from the original direction or purpose; distracted or redirected attention.
From Latin 'divertere,' combining 'di-' (apart) and 'vertere' (to turn). The word originally meant physically turning away, then evolved to mean redirecting attention or resources.
When you divert someone's attention, you're literally using a military/traffic strategy—the Romans used the concept to move enemy forces away from their target, and we still use the same word!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.