Meaning

verb turn aside; turn away from

verb send on a course or in a direction different from the planned or intended one

verb occupy in an agreeable, entertaining or pleasant fashion

originFrom Middle English diverten, Old French divertir (“to turn or go different ways, part, separate, divert”), from Latin di- (“apart”) + vertere (“to turn”); see verse.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0