divisional

Etymology

It is formed from English division + -al.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the nature of division, serving for division: 1738, in a letter of A. Hill.^[2][3] The Shorter Oxford dates this sense to the mid-17th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The earliest sense, relating to the act of dividing, was followed in 1826, in Bentham, by a use for coins and units of a lower denomination that exactly divide the higher, such as fractional coins.^[2][5] From 1846 it was used of a division in the sense of a section or portion, including the military division,^[2][5] and in British law a Divisional Court is a court of two or more judges of the High Court.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1738 – of the nature of division, serving to divide.^[2][3]
• 1826 – of a lower denomination, fractional.^[2]
• 1846 – belonging to a division or section.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to a division, as of an army: a divisional commander.^[5][2]
2. Serving to divide or marking a division: a divisional boundary between two counties.^[5][2]
3. Forming an exact fraction of a larger unit; fractional, as of coins.^[5][2]
4. Divisional Court: in England and Wales, a court of two or more judges of the High Court.^[2][4]

Word family

• interdivisional
• nondivisional

Related words

• division
• divide
• divisive

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster