split

Pronunciation

• IPA: /splɪt/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Dutch splitten, from Middle Dutch splitten,^[2][3][4] which is not found in Middle English^[5] and is related to Middle Dutch and Middle Low German splīten, Middle High German splīzen (German spleißen) and Old Frisian splīta “to slit”,^[2][6][7] from Proto-Germanic *spleitanan.^[5] Barnhart and Pokorny trace it to Proto-Indo-European *spleid-, with Old Irish slis “a slice”,^[2][5] but Boutkan finds no certain PIE etymology,^[5] and the Shorter Oxford calls its ultimate origin unknown.^[7] It was first a nautical word.^[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

1567 in Merriam-Webster.^[9] The OED's first certain sense, of storms or rocks, “to break up a ship”, is from 1590,^[10][8] the year Barnhart gives for “to break up”, in Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors, followed in 1593 by “to divide, cleave, rend”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

“To cleave or rend lengthwise” is from the 1580s,^[5] and “to divide into parts” by 1706.^[5] To split hairs, to make over-fine distinctions, is from the 1670s,^[5] to split the difference from 1715,^[5] and split ticket, in American politics, from 1836–42.^[2][5] Of couples, “to separate, divorce”, it is from 1942, and the American slang “to leave, depart” is recorded by 1954, probably from that.^[5][2] To split the atom is from 1909.^[5] The noun, a narrow cleft or crack, is from 1597,^[10][2] a piece of wood from splitting from the 1610s,^[5] a breach in a party or between friends by 1729,^[5][10] the acrobat's splits by 1857,^[5] a drink of two liquors from 1882,^[5] a share of the takings from 1889,^[5] and the banana split from 1905.^[5] The adjective is from 1648,^[2] and split second from 1912, in Chesterton.^[2]

Timeline

• 1567 – verb.^[9]
• 1590 – to break up a ship.^[10][2]
• 1597 – noun, a cleft.^[10][2]
• 1648 – adjective.^[2]
• 1729 – a breach in a party.^[5][10]
• 1857 – the splits.^[5]
• 1942 – of couples, to separate.^[5]
• 1954 – to leave.^[5][2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To divide from end to end or along the grain, as by a sharp blow.
2. To break, burst or tear apart by force.
3. To separate people or groups; to divide into factions.
4. To divide and share: split the profits.
5. (slang) To leave.

Noun

1. The act or result of splitting; a crack or tear.
2. A breach or rupture in a group.
3. A share of something divided.
4. An acrobatic feat of sinking to the floor with the legs spread in a straight line, often the splits.
5. A dessert of sliced fruit, especially a banana, with ice cream.

Adjective

1. Divided or separated; cleft.

Word family

• splitter
• splittable

Related words

• splice
• splinter
• splint
• spall
• slice
• splitting

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press