▪ I. divide, v.
(dɪˈvaɪd)
Also 4–6 di-, dy-, devyde, dyvide, 4–7 devide, 5 Sc. dewyd(e, dewid.
[ME. de-, dividen, ad. L. dīvidĕre to force asunder, cleave, apportion, distribute, separate, remove): cf. It. dividere, Sp., Pg. dividir; F. has diviser (OF. deviser): see devise.]
I. Transitive senses.
1. a. To separate (a thing) into parts, or (a number or collective body) into smaller groups; to split up, cleave; to break or cut asunder.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iii. pr. ix. 65 (Camb. MS.) Thylke thing þat symply is o thing, with-owten any deuysyon, the errour and folye of mankynde departeth and deuydeth it. 1382 Wyclif 1 Kings iii. 25 Deuydith, he seith, the quyk child in two parties. c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 1046 Hys power sone he gart dewyd in twa. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 158 We breake and deuide this holy breade. 1611 Bible Dan. v. 28 Thy kingdome is diuided, and giuen to the Medes and Persians. 1712–14 Pope Rape Lock iii. 148 The Peer now spreads the glitt'ring Forfex wide, T'inclose the Lock; now joins it, to divide. 1776 Jrnl. U.S. Congress 17 July, If a question in a debate contains more parts than one, any member may have the same divided into as many questions as parts. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 552 Argyle divided his mountaineers into three regiments. |
b. to divide the hoof: to have divided or cloven hoofs. (A Hebraism of Scripture.)
| 1382 Wyclif Lev. xi. 7 A sowe that al be it that sche dyuidith [1388 departith] the clee, she chewith not kude. 1611 Bible ibid., The swine, though he diuide the hoofe and be clouen footed, yet hee cheweth not the cud. 1674 N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. iii. (1677) 3 All sorts of greater Fowl, viz. those who divide the Foot. |
c. To penetrate by motion through, pass through or across, ‘cleave’; also transf. to make (a path) through. (poet. and rhet.)
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. xi. 18 He..with strong flight did forcibly divyde The yielding ayre. 1855 Tennyson Maud i. i. 16, I heard The shrill-edged shriek of a mother divide the shuddering night. 1872 Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. lxvi. 6 To divide a pathway through such a sea. |
† d. To determine, decide. Obs. rare.
| 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. viii. (1890) 74 The Erle Douglas..bidis outher ȝeild him selfe, or the morne diuyde it with the sworde. |
e. phr. divide and rule (occas. govern) [tr. L. divide et impera (also used)]: a statement of the policy of not allowing subject peoples or factions to make common cause.
| 1602 W. Watson Decacordon iii. 69 According to Machiauels rule of divide & impera. 1606 J. Hall Meditations i. 109 For a Prince, that he may have good successe against either rebels or forraine enemies, it is a sure axiome, Divide and rule. 1870 Brewer Dict. Phr. & Fable 231/1 Divide and Govern. Divide a nation into parties, or set your enemies at loggerheads, and you can have your own way. A maxim of Machiavelli. 1932 Kipling Limits & Renewals 91 Divide and rule—especially with Hebrews. 1936 P. Fleming News from Tartary v. iii. 198 There has really been no need for the Chinese to put their immemorial colonial policy of Divide et impera into practice; nature has done it for them. 1948 B. Stevenson Home Bk. Proverbs (1959) 1014/1 ‘Divide et impera’..was the motto of Philip of Macedon and of Louis XI of France, in dealing with his nobles. It was the traditional motto of Austria. Polybius, Bossuet, and Montesquieu used it, but it is generally ascribed to Machiavelli. 1962 Listener 26 Apr. 718/2 True to their traditional ‘divide and rule’ policy British diplomats tried to deepen the differences between the Kenya African National Union and the Kenya African Democratic Union. |
2. To separate into branches; to cause to ramify.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 26 Þat þe spirit of lijf myȝte be brouȝt bi hem to al þe bodi þese arteries ben devyded many weiss. Ibid. 158 Þis veyne..strecchiþ to þe vttere partie of þe schuldre & þere is dyuydid. 1659 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 165 This Fort stood upon a point, which divided the Rheyn into his Arms or Branches. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. l. (1856) 478 The rod or staff is divided at right angles in two pieces. |
3. a. To separate or mark out (a continuous whole) into parts (in fact, or in thought); to make to consist of parts, or to distinguish the parts of. Said of a personal agent, or of a line or boundary; usually with the number of parts specified. Most freq. in pass.; sometimes referring chiefly to condition, and so nearly = to consist of (so many) parts.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 407 Crist devydiþ al man⁓kynde in þre partis. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 108 Dyuers men..dyuyden þe brayn panne diuerslych; summen noumbren mo boonys þan summe oþir speken of. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 3 Thys boke ys deuyded in to thre partes. 1665 Hooke Microgr. Pref. F b, A Ruler divided into inches and small parts. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 688 Thir songs Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to Heaven. 1777 J. Ramsden (title) Description of an Engine for dividing Straight Lines on Mathematical Instruments. 1797 Encycl. Brit. III. 43 Barry-Pily, is when a coat is divided by several lines drawn obliquely from side to side. 1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 338/1 Graduation is the name commonly applied to the art of dividing mathematical and astronomical instruments. 1864 Tennyson En. Ard. 733 A little garden..all round it ran a walk Of shingle, and a walk divided it. |
b. Billiards. To distinguish (the ball) into distinct parts or points to be aimed at.
| 1856 Crawley Billiards (1859) 44 The old and more usual style of play is to divide the object ball..striking your own ball full in the centre; by the side stroke just the reverse plan is adopted, and you divide your own ball and strike the object ball full. |
4. a. To separate into classes; to distinguish the kinds of; to class, classify. † b. Formerly, in scholastic use, To draw distinctions with regard to; also absol.: = distinguish 4 b, 8.
| 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1567) 15 a, I would diuide this worde Canis into a Dogge, a fishe of the sea, and a starre in the Elemente, thus might I saie, Canis is either a Dogge that liueth vpon the yearth, or a fishe, [etc.]. Ibid. 50 b, Comparations are deuided twoo maner of wayes, for, either thei bee equall, or not equall. a 1763 Shenstone Ess. 225 Mankind, in general, may be divided into persons of understanding, and persons of genius. 1845 R. W. Hamilton Pop. Educ. iii. (ed. 2) 37 We commonly divide the people into agricultural and manufacturing. |
5. a. To separate (a thing) from something else, or (things) from each other; to cut off, sunder, part.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 426 If þe pope & alle his clerkis weren dyuydid fro cristis chirche. 1382 ― 2 Sam. i. 23 Saul and Jonathas loueli..in deeth thei ben not deuydide. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxliii. (1482) 293 The kyng made hem to goo out of the feld at ones, and so they were deuyded of hyr bataylles. 1581 Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 42 The people..had..deuided themselues from the Senate. 1634 Milton Comus 279 Could that divide you from near-ushering guides? 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 16 The sick were divided from the rest. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Land Wks. (Bohn) II. 18 The sea which..divided the poor Britons utterly from the world. |
b. To separate mentally, distinguish from. rare.
| 1859 Tennyson Geraint & Enid 686 Enid..all confused at first, Could scarce divide it from her foolish dream. |
6. To separate or mark off (a thing) from something adjacent, or (adjacent things or parts) from one another; to establish or constitute a boundary between. (Said of a personal agent, or of the boundary, etc.) lit. and fig.
| 1382 Wyclif Gen. i. 4 God..deuydid liȝt fro derknessis. Ibid. 6 Be maad a firmament in the myddel of watres, and dyuyde it watres fro watrys. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 86 Thus danz Aristoteles These thre sciences [theorique, rhetorique, practique] hath devided. c 1510 More Picus Wks. 19/2 The partes & lots of enheritances were of old time met oute & deuided by cordes or ropes. 1632 Lithgow Trav. iii. 95 A partition wall..dividing the little roome from the body of the Chappell. 1732 Pope Ess. Man i. 226 What thin partitions Sense from Thought divide. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xlvii. 6 Eternal form shall still divide The eternal soul from all beside. |
7. To separate (persons) in opinion, feeling, or interest; to cause to disagree, set at variance, produce dissension in or among; to distract or perplex (a person) by conflicting thoughts or feelings.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 365 Þes newe ordris ben dividid in þer love. 1393 Gower Conf. I. 7 Þe regnes ben diuided, In stede of loue is hate guided. 1526–34 Tindale Luke xii. 52 Ther shalbe five in one housse devided, thre agaynst two, and two agaynst thre. 1650 T. B[ayley] Worcester's Apoph. 77 The Marquess, was much divided within himself. 1736 Butler Anal. ii. viii. Wks. 1874 I. 300 Men are divided in their opinions, whether our pleasures over-balance our pains. 1831 Brewster Newton (1855) II. xxi. 255 The fluxionary controversy had at this time begun to divide the mathematical world. |
8. a. To distribute among a number; to deal out, dispense. Const. † to (obs.), among, between, up.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 210, I will dele..& dyuyde grace To alkynnes creatures. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 190 Crist..wolde not juge ne devide heritage among men. c 1470 Henry Wallace x. 995 The castellis off Scotland King Eduard haill has tane in his awin hand: Deuidyt syn, to men that he wald lik. 1526–34 Tindale 1 Cor. xii. 11 The silfe same sprete, devydynge to every man severall gyftes, even as he will. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xxxvi. 230 God divided the land of Canaan amongst the Israelites. 1710 Prideaux Orig. Tithes iii. 145 The Ministers, had their Stipends divided to them out of these Offerings. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 319 Of the rent, a large proportion was divided among the country gentlemen. 1914 E. Cannan Wealth v. 82 Even the pasture was divided up with the small exceptions which we see in the ‘commons’ of the present day. |
b. To take or have a portion of (something) along with another or others; to share.
| 1526 Tindale Luke xii. 13 Master, bid my brother deuide the enherytaunce with me. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. vi. 18 Tis Ioane, not we, by whom the day is wonne, For which, I will diuide my crowne with her. c 1630 Milton Passion i, Erewhile of music and ethereal mirth..My muse with angels did divide to sing. 1697 Dryden Alexander's Feast 168 Let old Timotheus yield the prize, Or both divide the crown. 1842 Tennyson Walking to Mail 69 These two parties still divide the world—Of those that want, and those that have. |
| absol. 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. vi. 87 Make good this ostentation, and you shall Diuide in all, with us. |
† c. To give forth in various directions. Obs.
| 1594 Spenser Amoretti vi, When it once doth burne, it doth diuide Great heat. a 1687 Waller Her Chamber Poems (1893) 26 While she..like Phœbus so divides her light, And warms us, that she stoops not from her height. |
† d. To assign severally to different places or posts; to allocate. Obs.
| 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 315 To devide the souldiers and munition into their severall places. 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 124 There Men are all divided, so many to each Boat, and so they go to the Oyster-Banks. 1718 Watts Ps. i. (L.M.) v, The dreadful judge with stern command Divides him to a different place. |
e. To distribute (attention, etc.) between different objects; to direct to different things.
| 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv, Me thinkes I see Leontes..ore and ore diuides him, 'Twixt his vnkindnesse, and his Kindnesse. 1737 Pope Hor. Epist. ii. ii. 291, I, who at some times spend, at others spare, Divided between carelessness and care. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iv. xxiii, The bell's grim voice divides thy care, 'Twixt hours of penitence and prayer! 1842 Tennyson Morte d'Arthur 60 Both his eyes were dazzled, as he stood, This way and that dividing the swift mind, In act to throw. [Cf. Virgil æn. iv. 285.] 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. xi. 290 The guide's attention had been divided between his work and his safety. |
9. Math. a. to divide a number or quantity by another: to find how many times the latter is contained in the former; to perform the process of division on. (Also absol.)
| c 1425 Craft Nombrynge (E.E.T.S.) 25 Þou schalt deuide..þe noumbre..by þe neþer figures. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xv. v, Who knewe arsmetryke in every degre..Bothe to detraye and to devyde and adde. 1542 Recorde Gr. Artes 47. 1652 News fr. Low-Countr. 8 Podex can cast, can clear a summe, Adde, Multiply, Subtract, Divide. 1827 Hutton Course Math. I. 8, 8 {div} 4, denotes that 8 is to be divided by 4. |
b. Of a number or quantity: To be a divisor or factor of (another number or quantity); to be contained an exact number of times in; to measure.
| 1709–29 V. Mandey Syst. Math., Arith. 4 A Number is said to measure a Number, when one so exactly divides the other, that nothing remains. Mod. 9 divides 36. x + y divides xn + yn when n is odd. |
† c. To take the difference of the terms of a given ratio, and make a new ratio by comparing this difference with either term of the original one. Obs. The phrase ‘by dividing’ is now expressed by the Lat. dividendo. See also divided 5.
| 1726 tr. Gregory's Astron. I. 402 By compounding and dividing them, you will have the Ratio of SA + SP to SP, and SA—SP to SP. |
10. To part (a legislative assembly, etc.) into two groups which are counted in order to ascertain the number voting on each side of a question. Also absol. and intr.
| 1554 Jrnl. Ho. Com. 19 Apr., I. 34 Upon the Question for the Bill, the House did divide. 1604 Ibid. 24 Mar., I. 152 The Voice seeming doubtful, the House was divided. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. iv. §52 The House being then divided upon the passing or not passing it, it was carried for the affirmative by nine voices and no more. a 1794 Gibbon (Webster 1828), The emperors sat, voted, and divided with their equals. 1801 G. Rose Diaries (1860) I. 335 Opposition were afraid to divide upon it. 1885 Manch. Exam. 15 May 6/2 The House..divided, when Mr. Gladstone's motion was carried by 337 to 38. Mod. The honourable member proceeded amid cries of ‘Divide!’ ‘Divide!’ Mod. Mr. B. expressed his intention of dividing the House on the motion. |
† 11. Mus. a. trans. To perform with ‘divisions’; b. intr. To perform or execute ‘divisions’; to descant: see division 7. Obs.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. v. 17 Most heauenly melody About the bed sweet musicke did diuide. 1609 Ev. Woman in Hum. iii. i. in Bullen O. Pl. IV, What heavie string doost thou devide upon? 1618 Fletcher Loyal Subj. ii. ii, You will divide too shortly; Your voice comes finely forward. |
12. Of a horse: (?) To distribute his legs and feet as they touch the ground; to keep them clear of each other in walking, trotting, etc. Also absol.
| 1737 Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 23 How a Horse ought to devide his Legs. Ibid. 38 Horses that devide all four well. Ibid. 93 The truest way to know whether he be a firm compact Nag, and divide well. |
II. Intrans. senses. (See also 4 b, 9, 10, 11 b, 12.)
13. absol. To make separation or distinction (between). (In quot. 1377, To make distinctions, as in logic: = distinguish 8; cf. division 3, 6.)
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 234 Somme he tauȝte..to dyuyne and diuide. 1382 Wyclif Isa. lix. 2 Ȝoure wickidnesses deuydeden betwe ȝou and ȝoure God. 1607–12 Bacon Ess., Wisdom for a Man's Self (Arb.) 182 Diuide with reason betweene Self-loue, and Society: and be so true to thy self as thou be not false to others. 1661 Cressy Refl. Oathes Suprem. & Alleg. 61 Justice requires that we should divide between the innocent and the guilty. |
14. a. intr. (for refl.) To become divided, undergo division; to become separated into parts, or from something else or each other; to part; to cleave, break up, go to pieces; to branch, ramify.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 14 Whan we come to the yeres of discrecyon, than we deuyde in two partes, two companyes & two wayes. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1737 Bubbling from her breast, it [the blood] doth divide In two slow rivers. 1605 ― Lear i. ii. 15 Loue cooles, friendship falls off, brothers diuide. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 569 To Right and Left the Front Divided, and to either flank retir'd. 1734 Waterland Script. Vind. ad fin. (T.), Commentators and criticks have divided upon this matter. 1855 Tennyson Brook 73 Her hair In gloss and hue the chestnut, when the shell Divides threefold to show the fruit within. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 144 [The river] divides and subdivides, till at last it is split up into a network of channels. |
b. Camb. Univ.: see division 1 c.
| 1797 Camb. Univ. Calendar 235 February..23. Lent Term divides. 1895–6 Ibid. October 1, Michaelmas Term begins. Oct. 20, End of first quarter of Mich. Term. Nov. 9, Michaelmas Term divides. Nov. 29, End of third quarter of Mich. Term. Dec. 19, Michaelmas Term ends. |
Add: [II.] [14.] c. Of a number or quantity: to admit of division.
| 1938 V. Hopper Medieval Number Symbolism ii. 26 From its original meaning, 40 comes to be a ‘fated’ period, possibly as a result of the statement that after the flood man's days are to be 120 years, which divides exactly into 3 periods of 40 years each. 1985 Nature 31 Oct. 762/1, 12 can be divided by 2, 3, 4 and 6 while 10 divides by only 2 and 5. 1986 Ibid. 31 July 413/1 The scholarly reading population divides naturally into two types. |
▪ II. diˈvide, n.
[f. prec. vb.]
1. The act of dividing, division: † a. Separation; b. Distribution among a number of persons.
| 1642 Preparative for Fast 4 This divide and scatter, if it be not prevented, will be no small curse. 1873 Contemp. Rev. XXI. 749 In these [friendly societies]..the hope of a ‘divide’, as it is often termed, tends to keep up the figure of contributions. 1893 McCarthy Red Diamonds II. 27 There is to be the big divide next New Year, but I shan't be in it. |
2. In N. Amer., Austral., etc.: A ridge or line of high ground forming the division between two river valleys or systems; a watershed; the Great (Continental) Divide, that of the Rocky Mountains; fig. a dividing or boundary line; spec. the boundary between life and death.
| 1807 Pike Sources Mississ. ii. (1810) 136 Struck and passed the divide between the Grand river and the Verdegris river. 1868 Congress. Globe 14 July 4068/1 The doctrine of political equality forms the great ‘divide’ between parties now as heretofore. 1869 W. J. Palmer Surv. across Continent 171 The great Continental Divide at Arkansas Pass. 1872 J. H. Tice Over Plains 214 [Tales] of those who long since ‘have gone over the Divide’. 1887 R. Murray Geol. & Phys. Geog. Victoria 6 The ‘Main Divide’ of Victoria, forming the watershed line between the Murray River system on the north, and the numerous streams debouching on the southern coast. 1890 Century Mag. Mar. 771/1 In central Colorado the ‘Continental Divide’ is a wilderness of desolate peaks. 1893 F. C. Selous Trav. S.E. Africa 377, I could take the expedition..along the great divide which forms the watershed. 1907 C. E. Mulford Bar-20 xxiii. 226 Snip! goes his bill an' th' snake slides over th' Divide. 1908 ― Orphan xi. 139 If he was killed, he would have company across the Great Divide. 1909 Daily Chron. 16 Sept. 1/2 He was good to Ruth, and she, too, loved him. But between them still was ‘the great divide’. She could not forget that he had bought her for a string of nuggets. 1955 C. S. Lewis Let. 25 June (1966) 263 Instead of saying the Great Divide came between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, I said..that it didn't. 1965 Listener 16 Sept. 414/2 This is the divide between Barth and Aquinas, it is the divide between the conservative evangelical tradition and liberal theology, it is the divide between Biblicism and the Bishop of Woolwich. |