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Webster 1913 Edition

Divide

Di-vide′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Divided
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Dividing
.]
[L.
dividere
,
divisum
;
di-
=
dis-
+ root signifying
to part
; cf. Skr.
vyadh
to pierce; perh. akin to L.
vidua
widow, and E.
widow
. Cf.
Device
,
Devise
.]
1.
To part asunder (a whole); to sever into two or more parts or pieces; to sunder; to separate into parts.
Divide
the living child in two.
1 Kings iii. 25.
2.
To cause to be separate; to keep apart by a partition, or by an imaginary line or limit;
as, a wall
divides
two houses; a stream
divides
the towns.
Let it
divide
the waters from the waters.
Gen. i. 6.
3.
To make partition of among a number; to apportion, as profits of stock among proprietors; to give in shares; to distribute; to mete out; to share.
True justice unto people to
divide
.
Spenser.
Ye shall
divide
the land by lot.
Num. xxxiii. 54.
4.
To disunite in opinion or interest; to make discordant or hostile; to set at variance.
If a kingdom be
divided
against itself, that kingdom can not stand.
Mark iii. 24.
Every family became now
divided
within itself.
Prescott.
5.
To separate into two parts, in order to ascertain the votes for and against a measure;
as, to
divide
a legislative house upon a question
.
6.
(Math.)
To subject to arithmetical division.
7.
(Logic)
To separate into species; – said of a genus or generic term.
8.
(Mech.)
To mark divisions on; to graduate;
as, to
divide
a sextant
.
Syn. – To sever; dissever; sunder; cleave; disjoin; disunite; detach; disconnect; part; distribute; share.

Di-vide′

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To be separated; to part; to open; to go asunder.
Milton.
The Indo-Germanic family
divides
into three groups.
J. Peile.
2.
To cause separation; to disunite.
A gulf, a strait, the sea intervening between islands,
divide
less than the matted forest.
Bancroft.
3.
To break friendship; to fall out.
Shak.
4.
To have a share; to partake.
Shak.
5.
To vote, as in the British Parliament, by the members separating themselves into two parties (as on opposite sides of the hall or in opposite lobbies), that is, the ayes dividing from the noes.
The emperors sat, voted, and
divided
with their equals.
Gibbon.

Webster 1828 Edition

Divide

DIVIDE

,
Verb.
T.
[L., to part. See the latter words.]
1.
To part or separate an entire thing; to part a thing into two or more pieces.
Divide the living child in two. 1 Kings 3.
2.
To cause to be separate; to keep apart by a partition or by an imaginary line or limit. A wall divides two houses. The equator divides the earth into two hemispheres.
Let the firmament divide the waters from the waters. Genesis 1.
3.
To make partition of, among a number.
Ye shall divide the land by lot. Numbers 33.
4.
To open; to cleave.
Thou dist divide the sea. Nehemiah 9.
5.
To disunite in opinion or interest; to make discordant.
There shall be five in one house divided, three against two--Luke 12.
6.
To distribute; to separate and bestow in parts or shares.
And he divided to them his living. Luke 15.
7.
To make dividends; to apportion the interest or profits of stock among proprietors; as, the bank divides six per cent.
8.
To separate into two parts, for ascertaining opinions for and against a measure; as, to divide a legislative house, in voting.

DIVIDE

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To part; to open; to cleave.
2.
To break friendship; as, brothers divide.
3.
To vote by the division of a legislative house into two parts.
The emperors sat, voted and divided with their equals.

Definition 2024

divide

divide

English

Verb

divide ‎(third-person singular simple present divides, present participle dividing, simple past and past participle divided)

  1. (transitive) To split or separate (something) into two or more parts.
    a wall divides two houses; a stream divides the towns
    • Bible, 1 Kings iii. 25
      Divide the living child in two.
  2. (transitive) To share (something) by dividing it.
    How shall we divide this pie?‎
    • Spenser
      true justice unto people to divide
  3. (transitive, arithmetic) To calculate the number (the quotient) by which you must multiply one given number (the divisor) to produce a second given number (the dividend).
    If you divide 6 by 3, you get 2.‎
  4. (transitive, arithmetic) To be a divisor of.
    3 divides 6.‎
  5. (intransitive) To separate into two or more parts.
  6. (intransitive, biology) Of a cell, to reproduce by dividing.
    • 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
      [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, and that in several cases these bacteria were dividing and thus, by the perverse arithmetic of biological terminology, multiplying.
  7. To disunite in opinion or interest; to make discordant or hostile; to set at variance.
    • Bible, Mark iii. 24
      If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
    • Prescott
      Every family became now divided within itself.
  8. (obsolete) To break friendship; to fall out.
  9. (obsolete) To have a share; to partake.
  10. To vote, as in the British Parliament, by the members separating themselves into two parties (as on opposite sides of the hall or in opposite lobbies), that is, the ayes dividing from the noes.
    • Gibbon
      The emperors sat, voted, and divided with their equals.
  11. To mark divisions on; to graduate.
    to divide a sextant
  12. (music) To play or sing in a florid style, or with variations.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

  • (act of dividing): division
  • (the sum being divided; the upper term in a fraction): dividend
  • (the number of parts in a division; the lower term in a fraction): divisor

See also

Translations

Noun

divide ‎(plural divides)

  1. A thing that divides.
    Stay on your side of the divide, please.
  2. An act of dividing.
    The divide left most of the good land on my share of the property.
  3. A distancing between two people or things.
    There is a great divide between us.
  4. (geography) A large chasm, gorge, or ravine between two areas of land.
    If you're heading to the coast, you'll have to cross the divide first.

Italian

Verb

divide

  1. third-person singular present indicative of dividere

Latin

Verb

dīvide

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of dīvidō

Portuguese

Verb

divide

  1. Second-person singular (tu) affirmative imperative of dividir
  2. Third-person singular (ele, ela, also used with tu and você?) present indicative of dividir

Spanish

Verb

divide

  1. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present indicative form of dividir.
  2. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of dividir.

Etymology

From Latin dīvidō ‎(“divide”)

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /dɪˈvaɪd/

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