Etymologically
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divide

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɪˈvaɪd/ (UK)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English dividen, borrowed from Latin dīvidere (“to force apart, cleave, distribute”),[2][3][4] from dī-, a form of dis-, apart, and -videre, to separate, related to vidua (“widow”) (see widow).[2][4][5] De Vaan derives -videre from PIE *(d)uid-, to separate, which lost its initial d and was reinforced by dis-.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To separate into parts: probably before 1325 in Barnhart,[2] the early 14th century in Etymonline, about 1374 in the OED.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

To sever a connection, or to cause disagreement, is from the late 14th century,[3] and the mathematical operation of division from the early 15th century.[3] The intransitive, to become separated into parts, is from the 1520s.[3] Divide and rule (1602) translates Latin divide et impera;[6][7] Word Origins notes that it is often attributed to Machiavelli, who in fact denounced the principle.[7] The noun, an act of dividing, is from 1642,[2][4] and a watershed between river valleys American English by 1807.[3] In Parliament, to vote by separating into two groups is a specialized sense.[8][9]

Timeline

  • c. 1325 – to separate into parts.[2]
  • late 14th century – to cause disagreement.[3]
  • early 15th century – in arithmetic.[3]
  • 1602 – divide and rule.[6]
  • 1642 – the noun.[2]
  • 1807 – a watershed.[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To separate into parts, groups or sections.
  2. To share out; to distribute.
  3. To cause to disagree; to set at odds.
  4. (mathematics) To find how many times one number contains another.
  5. Of a parliament, to vote by separating into two groups.

Noun

  1. A point or line of division; a gap between groups: the digital divide.
  2. (US) A ridge of land between two river systems; a watershed.

Word family

  • dividable
  • divvy
  • divider
  • misdivide
  • redivide
  • subdivide
  • continental divide
  • great divide

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins