Lighting provided on the work plane or on an object that does not come from any particular direction. Diffuse lighting produces less-distinct shadows than directional lighting.
Diffuse lighting assumes the light hitting an object scatters in all directions equally, so the brightness of the reflected light does not depend at all on the position of the viewer. Sunlight on a playground is an example in the real world of diffuse lighting.
Light which has been scattered or dispersed so as not to appear to be emanating wholly from its' source.