division

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɪˈvɪʒ.ən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English devisioun,^[2] borrowed from Old French division, devisiun,^[3][4][5] and directly from Latin dīvīsiō (“a dividing, division”) (accusative dīvīsiōnem),^[3][4] a noun of action from the past participle stem of dīvidere (“to divide”),^[3][4] the source of divide.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of separating into parts: probably about 1350 in Barnhart,^[4] about 1374 in the OED,^[6] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[3] Etymonline also has “a part separated from the rest” and “disagreement” from the late 14th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Distribution or sharing among a number is from about 1380,^[6] and the arithmetical operation, the inverse of multiplication, is from the late 14th century.^[3] The division sign (÷) is said to have been invented by the mathematician John Pell (1611–1685).^[3] The military sense, a portion of an army or fleet, is from the 1590s.^[3] In biology the splitting of a cell into two or more cells is from 1880,^[6] and in gardening the propagation of plants by splitting clumps from 1805.^[6] A vote in Parliament in which members separate into two lobbies is another sense,^[7][8] as is a grouping of teams in a sports league.^[7][9] Divisible is from before 1425 and divisor from before 1500.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1350 – the act of dividing.^[4]
• c. 1380 – distribution, sharing.^[6]
• late 14th century – the arithmetical operation; disagreement.^[3]
• before 1425 – divisible.^[4]
• 1590s – a military division.^[3]
• 1805 – division of plants.^[6]
• 1880 – cell division.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of dividing or the state of being divided; separation into parts.
2. The arithmetical operation of finding how many times one number contains another, the inverse of multiplication.
3. Something that divides or separates, such as a partition or boundary.
4. A part or section, as of a business or organization; a military unit, usually commanded by a major general.
5. Disagreement or discord.
6. In sports, a group of teams that compete with each other.

Word family

• divisional
• divisionally
• divisionism
• hyperdivision
• interdivision
• misdivision
• nondivision
• predivision

Related words

• divide
• dividend
• divisive
• divisor
• divisible
• divisibility
• device
• devise

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster