penetrate vs permeate

penetrate and permeate both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
penetrate	No	No	Yes	No
permeate	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, permeate is a hyponym of penetrate; that is, permeate is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than penetrate:

As verbs, penetrate and permeate are synonyms defined as:

Other synonyms of penetrate include diffuse, imbue, interpenetrate, pervade, riddle.

penetrate (verb)	permeate (verb)
come to understand	pass through
become clear or enter one's consciousness or emotions	spread or diffuse through
pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance	penetrate mutually or be interlocked
insert the penis into the vagina or anus of
spread or diffuse through
make one's way deeper into or through
enter a group or organization in order to spy on the members