undivided

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + divided,^[2][3][4] the second part being the past participle of divide,^[2][4] Middle English dividen.^[3][5] The verb is from Latin dīvidō (“to force apart, cleave, distribute”), formed with dis- (“apart”);^[4] de Vaan, quoted by Etymonline, takes the rest from Proto-Indo-European *(d)uid- (“to separate, distinguish”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not divided or broken up into parts: about 1412, in Hoccleve's De Regimine Principum.^[6] Etymonline dates the word to the early 15th century.^[4] The first quotations in the Middle English Dictionary are from Lydgate, including al hool and ondeuyded, all whole and undivided.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word was used of things kept whole and of people not split by dissent: Lydgate used it about 1440 for being united in opinion,^[6][5] a sense that the Middle English Dictionary also glosses as unanimous.^[5] In the 16th century it took on a legal sense, of property not divided between persons but held jointly;^[6] the OED dates this to 1528–30, where its 1989 edition had 1544.^[6][7] The now common use of attention or affection given wholly to one object dates from 1746,^[6] and Johnson (1755) quoted Jeremy Taylor's "a whole and undivided affection" to illustrate the sense "unbroken, whole".^[8] From 1867 it was also used of something not shared with others.^[6] The Mapping Metaphor project places the word in a long pattern of describing social harmony in terms of wholeness, from the early 15th century.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1412 – not divided or broken up into parts.^[6]
• c. 1440 – not divided by disagreement; united.^[6][5]
• 1521 – not separated from each other.^[6]
• 1528–30 – held jointly or in common, not divided between persons.^[6]
• 1746 – of attention or affection, concentrated on one object; whole.^[6]
• 1867 – not shared with others; confined to one person.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not split into parts or groups; whole, entire: an undivided estate.^[10][3][6]
2. Of attention, affection and the like, given wholly to one object; concentrated: The kitten had the children's undivided attention.^[10][3][6]
3. Not split by disagreement; united: The council showed an undivided front.^[3][6][5]
4. Not shared with others: undivided control.^[3][6]
5. (law) Of property, held jointly by co-owners rather than divided into separate shares.^[3][6]
6. Of a leaf or similar part, not lobed, cleft or branched.^[3]

Word family

• undividedly
• undividedness

Related words

• divide
• divided
• indivisible
• individual

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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 e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ Mapping Metaphor with the Historical Thesaurus, University of Glasgow, mappingmetaphor.arts.gla.ac.uk
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins