divorce English · revision 5716

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1377|origins=la divortium}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /dɪˈvɔːs/, US /dɪˈvɔːrs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English devorse, divorce,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|divorce]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la|dīvortium|t=separation, dissolution of marriage]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|dīvortere]], a variant of [[m|la|dīvertere|t=to turn aside, go different ways, leave one's husband]] (see [[divert]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) The verb is from Old French divorcer, from Late Latin dīvortiāre.^(SOED 2002)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Legal dissolution of a marriage: 1377 in the OED, about 1378 in Barnhart, in a version of ''Piers Plowman''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Complete separation of things closely united is from about 1380 in the OED, the early 15th century in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The verb, to put away a spouse, is from 1387, and to dissolve the marriage of a couple from 1494.^(OED 1989) Word Origins notes that divorce once covered several ways of ending a marriage, including annulment, as in Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon,^(Cresswell 2021) and Etymonline that English did not distinguish it from legal separation until the mid-19th century.^(Etymonline) ''Divorcée'', from French, was used in an English novel in 1813, and ''divorcee'' became the usual form in the 19th century.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1377 – dissolution of a marriage.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1380 – complete separation.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1387 – the verb, to put away a spouse.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1494 – to dissolve a marriage.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1813 – ''divorcée''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The legal ending of a [[marriage]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A complete separation of things that were closely connected.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To end a marriage with one's [[spouse]] by legal divorce, or to dissolve a couple's marriage.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To [[separate]] or cut off completely.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[divorcement]]

+ * [[divorceable]]

+ * [[divorcer]]

+ * [[divorcive]]

+ * [[antidivorce]]

+ * [[divorcee]]

+ * [[nondivorce]]

+ * [[predivorce]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[divert]]

+ * [[convert]]

+ * [[versus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}