divisive

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin dīvīsīvus,^[2][3][4][5] a form the OED marks as hypothetical and Merriam-Webster places in Medieval Latin,^[6][7] from dīvīsus, the past participle of dīvidō (“to divide”),^[7][3][8] with the suffix -īvus.^[7][4] Etymonline and Klein describe it as formed from the stem of the Latin participle with the suffix -ive.^[9][8] The OED compares Middle French devisif, recorded in the 16th century.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having the quality of dividing, or of making distinctions: 1603, in Philemon Holland's translation of Plutarch's Morals.^[6] Etymonline dates it to about 1600,^[9] and the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English record a rare noun, something that divides or separates, in the mid 16th century.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was neutral and analytic: dividing, distributing or distinguishing.^[6][9] The sense that is now usual, causing disunion or discord, is recorded from 1642, in a declaration of the English Parliament to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland,^[6][7][9] and Merriam-Webster now labels the older sense archaic.^[7] The church context recurs in the Scottish example quoted by the EDD, an Act of the General Assembly of 1711 asking whether a minister will follow no "divisive courses" from the established Church.^[10] In 20th-century music theory, divisive rhythm, divided into regular and equal units, was contrasted with additive rhythm (1952).^[6]

Timeline

• mid 16th century – noun, something that divides (rare).^[2][3]
• 1603 – dividing; making distinctions.^[6]
• 1642 – causing disunion or discord.^[6][7][9]
• 1952 – in music, of rhythm divided into regular units.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Causing or tending to cause disagreement, discord or disunity: Immigration became a divisive issue in the campaign.^{[7][11][12][13][6]}
2. (music) Of rhythm or metre, divided into regular, equal units, as opposed to additive.^[6]
3. (archaic) Having the quality of separating or distinguishing; analytical.^[7][13][6]

Word family

• divisively
• divisiveness
• undivisive

Related words

• divide
• division
• divisible

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
11. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
13. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins