divulsion
(dɪˈvʌlʃən, daɪ-)
[a. F. divulsion (Montaigne, 1580) or ad. L. dīvulsiōn-em, n. of action f. dīvellĕre: see prec.]
The action of tearing, pulling, or plucking asunder; the condition of being torn apart (from something); a rending asunder, violent separation, laceration. Also fig.
| 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1340 That natures parmanent and divine should cohere unto themselves inseparably, and avoid as much as is possible all distraction and divulsion. 1605 G. Powel Refut. Epist. 40 It..causeth diuulsion and distraction of affections. 1624 T. Scott Aphor. of State 2 The divulsion of the Easterne Empire from the Westerne. 1684 T. Burnet Th. Earth i. 137 Others [islands] are made by divulsion from some continent. 1885 G. H. Taylor Pelv. & Hern. Therap. 80 To sever such adhesions by sudden, forcible divulsion, is painful. |