divisionn.
/dᵻˈvɪʒn/, U.S. /dəˈvɪʒən/ I. As an action or condition.† 3. The action of distinguishing, or of perceiving or making a difference; distinction. Obsolete.† 7. Music.† b. figurative. Variation, modulation. Obsolete.
1. † d. ‘Methodical arrangement, disposition’ (Schmidt). Obsolete.
a. The action of dividing or state of being divided into parts or branches; partition, severance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > [noun]
asunderingeOE
sheddingc1175
twinning?c1225
departingc1300
sunderinga1325
to-dighting1340
partingc1350
disseverancec1374
divisionc1374
severinga1382
departitionc1400
separation1413
sunderance1435
departisonc1440
deceperationa1450
severance1467
dissevering1488
dissever?1507
departurec1515
dividing1526
partition1530
sejunction1532
separatinga1557
sequestration1567
decision1574
divorce1593
disseveration16..
dissevermenta1603
sunderment1603
disparting1611
disunition1611
singling1625
divide1642
severation1649
concisure1656
department1677
secretion1696
abgregation1730
disengagement1791
disassociation1825
dispartment1869
dissociation1877
secernment1894
breakaway1897
delinkage1973
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Cambr.) iii. pr. xi. 77 But fyr [fleeth] and refuseth alle deuysyon.
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. iii. pr. ix. [see divide v. 1].
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 26 Þese arteries ben deuydid many weies; whos dyuysiouns man mai nouȝt conseyue bi his witt.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 111 By.. the devision of th' Earth into zones.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) v. i. 220 How haue you made diuision of your selfe? View more context for this quotation
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 136 Babylon..there first hapned the diuision of Languages from one..to seuentie two.
1715 tr. D. Gregory Elements Astron. I. ii. §10. 237 The Division of Time into Hours, Days and Weeks.
1840 D. Lardner Treat. Geom. ix. 109 Let the line..be divided into three parts, at C and D..and, from the points of division C and D let perpendiculars be drawn.
1871 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues II. 2 The division into books..is probably later than the age of Plato.
b. Separation, partition, parting.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > [noun]
discessiona1425
division1535
uncleaving1593
secession1633
detachment1671
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Esdras vi. 41 To make a deuysion betwixte the waters, that the one parte might remayne aboue, and the other beneth.
a1640 P. Massinger & J. Fletcher Very Woman ii. i. 65 in P. Massinger 3 New Playes (1655) We may meet again: But death's division is for ever, friend.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Higher Pantheism 6 This weight of body and limb, Are they not sign and symbol of thy division from Him?
c. Cambridge University. The partition of the term into two halves; the point of time at which the term is thus divided.
ΚΠ
1803 Gradus ad Cantabrigiam (at cited word) Term-Trotters, Young men who contrive to be in College the night before the division of the term, and out of it the morning after the close.
1852 C. A. Bristed Five Years Eng. University (ed. 2) 63 After ‘division’ in the Michaelmas and Lent Terms, a student, who can assign a good plea for absence to the College authorities, may go down.
1896 W. Aldis Wright in Letter The division of term still marks a period for certain purposes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > [noun]
ordinancec1390
compositionc1400
order?a1425
rayc1440
ordination1531
dispose1603
divisiona1616
compositure1625
composure1628
method1640
tactics1650
allocation1656
rangement1674
schematism1701
arrangement1715
orderedness1724
groupment1837
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) i. i. 22 A fellow..That neuer set a squadron in the field, Nor the deuision of a Battell knowes, More then a Spinster. View more context for this quotation
e. Horticulture. The propagation of perennial plants by splitting clumps into parts capable of rooting themselves.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > propagation of plants > [noun] > by division
division1805
1805 T. A. Knight Rep. Committee Hort. Soc. Lond. 5 Almost every plant, the existence of which is not confined to a single summer, admits of two modes of propagation; by Division of its Parts, and by Seed.
1841 J. W. Loudon Ladies' Compan. to Flower Garden 86/1 Plants are said to be propagated by division when they are taken up and separated into portions.
1915 T. W. Sanders Pop. Hardy Perennials i. 24 By division, the simplest of all methods, we can easily obtain strong plants of any perennial.
1971 E. Coxhead One Woman's Garden vii. 54 I started with one plant and by division now have three.
f. Biology. The spontaneous separation or breaking up of a cell into two or more approximately equal parts that constitute daughter-cells, usually involving division of the nucleus (if any) followed by the breaking up of the cell as a whole; frequently as cell division (cell n.1 Compounds 2b). As a mode of reproduction of simple organisms usually termed fission n. or schizogony.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > types of reproduction > [noun] > others
adosculation1682
autogeny?1818
gemmation1836
parthenogenesis1849
virgin production1849
rejuvenescence1853
agamogenesis1857
monogeny1857
autogenesis1858
homogenesis1858
proliferation1864
monogenesis1866
swarming1867
paedogenesis1870
monogony1873
virginal generation1879
division1880
monogenesy1890
parthenogeny1890
anisogamy1891
isogamy1891
paragamy1891
separation1891
paedogenesis1892
parthenism1892
heterogamy1894
thelytoky1895
flagellation1898
cytogamy1899
pseudogamy1900
tychoparthenogenesis1900
syngamy1904
pseudogamy1907
ectogenesis1909
paedogamy1910
apomixis1913
progenesis1934
agamospermy1939
mixis1944
somatogamy1949
decapitation-
1880 Encycl. Brit. XII. 13/1 Four types of Cytogenesis may be distinguished: (1) Rejuvenescence; (2) Conjugation; (3) Free-cell formation; and (4) Division.
1896 E. B. Wilson Cell ii. 45 In the multicellular organism all the tissue-cells have arisen by continued division from the original germ-cell, and this in its turn arose by the division of a cell pre-existing in the parent-body.
1901 T. H. Morgan Regeneration 149 The breaking up of lumbriculus or of a planarian into pieces that form new individuals is a typical example of division.
1920 L. Doncaster Introd. Study Cytol. xv. 247 The differentiation of the germ-layers is not conditioned by differential nuclear division, but by unequal division of the cytoplasm.
1940 T. J. Parker & W. A. Haswell Text-bk. Zool. (ed. 6) I. ii. 89 Multiplication [of Paramecium] takes place by binary fission (D), the division of the body being preceded by that of both nuclei.
1964 G. H. Haggis et al. Introd. Molecular Biol. i. 13 A remarkable bubbling of the cytoplasm occurs, and this becomes furiously active in the later stages of cell division. After division the movement dies away and the daughter cells spread out, [etc.].
1970 E. J. Ambrose & D. M. Easty Cell Biol. i. 20 Cell division is the way in which reproduction occurs in most simple unicellular organisms.
2. The action of distributing among a number; distribution, partition, sharing. division of labour, in Political Economy, the division of a process of manufacture or an employment into parts, each of which is performed by a particular person.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > giving > distributing or dealing out > [noun] > dividing and sharing out
partingc1330
departinga1340
divisionc1380
partition1429
departison1444
dividentc1450
skiftingc1450
partage1484
portiona1513
departition?c1530
dividend1535
portioning1556
reparting1574
repartment1574
parcery1582
sharing1598
apportion1628
compartition1636
department1677
dividing1719
whacking1851
partitionment1864
divide1873
share-out1877
whack1885
sharesies1916
carve-up1935
c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 341 God wolde suffre no lenger þe fend to regne oonli in oo siche preest, but, of synne þat þei hadden do, made devisioun amongis two.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope i. vi It is not good to have partage and dyuysyon with hym which is ryche & myghty.
1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde Contents sig. bijv The debate and strife betwene the Spanyardes and Portugales for the diuision of the Indies.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iii. iv. 338 Ile make diuision of my present with you: Hold, there's halfe my Coffer. View more context for this quotation
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. i. 5 The greatest improvements in the productive powers of Labour..seem to have been the effects of the division of labour . View more context for this quotation
1878 W. S. Jevons Polit. Econ. 33 Even in a single family there is division of labour: the husband ploughs, or cuts timber; the wife cooks, manages the house, and spins or weaves; the sons hunt or tend sheep; the daughters employ themselves as milkmaids.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [noun] > action of
distinctiona1340
division?c1425
decerninga1535
dignotion1578
differencing1598
discern1599
discernment1615
discrimination1621
refinement1712
differentiation1872
distinguishing1882
differentiating1887
?c1425 (c1390) G. Chaucer Fortune 33 I haue the tawht deuisyoun by-twene Frend of effect and frende of cowntenaunce.
a1500 Lancelot of Laik (1870) 1648 That Iustice be Elyk [= alike] With-out diuisione baith to pur and ryk.
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique 4 b The division is an openyng of thynges wherin we agree and rest upon, and wherein we sticke, and stande in traverse.
1611 Bible (King James) Exod. viii. 23 I will put a division between my people and thy people. View more context for this quotation
4. The fact of being divided in opinion, sentiment, or interest; disagreement, variance, dissension, discord; an instance of this, a disagreement.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > [noun] > division or lack of unity
unoning1340
schism1390
division1393
departmentc1450
rupture1583
secting1598
disunion1601
twine1606
section1639
distermination1647
scission1736
cleavage1867
non-union1909
1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 381 Division..many a noble worthy town..Hath brought to great adversite.
1477 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Hist. Jason (1913) 95 I praye you..that ye kepe you from all dyuysion & rancour.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Rom. xvi. 17 Marke them which cause division..and avoyde them.
1611 Bible (King James) 1 Cor. xi. 18 I heare that there be diuisions [ Wycl. & Geneva, dissensions] among you. View more context for this quotation
1665 T. Herbert Some Years Trav. (new ed.) 190 A bone of division betwixt the Turk and Persian.
1712 W. Harrison in Swift's Corr. 16 Dec. To sow division between us.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess iii. 50 Betwixt these two Division smoulders hidden.
5. Mathematics.† b. The process of ‘dividing’ a ratio, i.e. substituting the difference of its terms for either of them. Obsolete. (Now expressed by dividendo: cf. composition n. 5c.)
a. The action or process of dividing one number or quantity by another, i.e. of finding how many times the latter is contained in the former, or, more generally, of finding a quantity (the quotient) which multiplied by the latter (the divisor) will produce the former (the dividend); the inverse of multiplication; a rule or method for doing this. short division: the method used when the divisor is 12 or less, in which the quotient is set down directly, without writing the successive products. compound n.1 d., simple adj., n., adv., and int. d.: see these words. complementary division, direct division, and scratch division., ancient or obsolete methods of performing arithmetical division. long division: see long division n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > [noun] > division
division?c1425
partition?a1560
long division1744
factorization1875
?c1425 Crafte Nombrynge in R. Steele Earliest Arithm. in Eng. (1922) 27 Þou schalt deuide alle þe nounbre þat comes of þe multiplicacion by þe neþer figures..but ȝet þou hast not þe craft of dyuision.
1543 R. Record Ground of Artes ii. sig. S.iii If you wold proue Multiplycation, the surest way is by Dyuision.
1573 Record's Ground of Arts (rev. ed.) i. i. sig. K.iijv Diuision is a distributinge of a greater summe by the vnitees of a lesser, Or Diuision is an Arithmeticall producing of a thyrd number..whiche..shall so often contayne an vnit, as the greater of the two propounded numbers doth containe the lesser.
1690 W. Leybourn Cursus mathematicus 18 The ways of performing Division are divers.
1706 W. Jones Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos 25 Division is a Manifold Subduction; or the taking of one Number..out of another, as often as possible.
1823 H. J. Brooke Familiar Introd. Crystallogr. 299 The division..is effected by subtracting the logarithm of the latter fraction from that of the former.
ΚΠ
1695 W. Alingham Geom. Epitomiz'd 19 If A: B:: C: D then by Division of reason it will be as A − B: B:: C − D: D.
1827 O. Gregory Hutton's Course Math. (ed. 9) I. 325 The term Divided, or Division, here means subtracting, or parting; being used in the sense opposed to compounding, or adding, in def. 86.
6. Logic, etc.
a. The action of dividing into kinds or classes; separation of a genus into species, called substantial division, or division per se; classification; esp. in scholastic logic, a rough kind of classification based on ordinary knowledge, not on methodical investigation. Also, less strictly:
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > [noun] > logical analysis
partitionc1450
division1551
resolution1557
analytics1574
distribution1588
analysis1756
1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Uiij Euery man is either wastefull or couetous..This deuision is not good, for many men offende in neither.
1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. v. 60 Of Divisions, one is a distribution of the Genus into Species, and of the whole into parts.
1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic iv. 99 Division resolves the Extension [of a Concept] into its constituent Genera and Species.
b. Enumeration of the parts of a whole, partition, called partible division.
ΚΠ
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke Annot. sig. ¶ As for the diuision, Musicke is either speculatiue or practicall.
1839 G. Bird Elements Nat. Philos. 32 Absolute motion..relative motion... Besides these, there are some other divisions of motion..[as] uniform..accelerated..retarded.
1853 W. Thomson Outl. Laws of Thought (ed. 3) §57. 109 Division is the enumeration of the various co-ordinate species of which a proximate genus is composed.
c. Distinction of the various significations of a term: called nominal division, in opposition to which the two preceding are also called real division.
ΚΠ
1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. v. 60 Of Divisions... Another is of a word into divers significations, when the same may be taken severall waies.
a. The execution of a rapid melodic passage, originally conceived as the dividing of each of a succession of long notes into several short ones; such a passage itself, a florid phrase or piece of melody, a run; esp. as a variation on, or accompaniment to, a theme or ‘plain song’; hence often nearly = descant n. to run division: to execute such a passage or variation; also figurative (cf. descant v.) Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > perform music [verb (intransitive)] > specific style or technique
descanta1450
to stay on1579
to run division1590
divide1609
shake1611
flourish1766
tweedle-dee1837
slide1864
Wagnerize1866
to break a chord1879
magadize1904
scoop1927
segue1958
rap1979
rhyme1979
scratch1982
society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > section of piece of music > ornament > [noun] > flourish
passagec1570
division1590
flourish1646
variation1730
fioritura1841
floriation1895
1590 R. Harvey Plaine Percevall sig. D3 Diuisions framde with such long discords, & not so much as a concord to end withall, argues a bad eare.
c1592 C. Marlowe Jew of Malta iv. iv That kiss again! She runs division of my lips.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iii. i. 206 Ditties..Sung by a faire Queene..With rauishing diuision to her Lute. View more context for this quotation
1629 J. Ford Lovers Melancholy i. 6 He coo'd not run Diuision with more Art Vpon his quaking Instrument.
1664 J. Playford Brief Introd. Skill Musick (ed. 4) ii. 88 A Basse-Viol for Divisions must be of a lesse Size.
1737 H. Bracken Farriery Improved xxxvii. 525 Time will not permit me to run Divisions upon each of the Symptoms.
1781 R. B. Sheridan Critic i. i Signoras..gargling glib divisions in their outlandish throats.
1840 Penny Cycl. XVI. 21/2 [Music] In the fine chorus..when the line ‘Hark! how the thund'ring giant roars’ occurs, he makes the bases roar in a long division, till they nearly gasp for breath.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > [noun] > change within limits, variation, or modification
variation1502
diversification1603
flexion1603
divisiona1616
amendment1653
variating1653
sophistication1664
modulation1674
vacillation1769
modification1775
variorum1776
modifyinga1853
tropicalization1893
mod1943
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. iii. 97 The King-becoming Graces..I haue no rellish of them, but abound In the diuision of each seuerall Crime, Acting it many wayes. View more context for this quotation
8. The separating of the members of a legislative body, etc. into two groups, in order to count their votes; in the British Houses of Parliament effected by their passing into separate lobbies, the numbers on each side being counted by tellers.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > procedure of parliament or national assembly > [noun] > putting to vote > division of members to count votes
division1621
1621 Orig. Jrnls. House of Commons 13 Feb. 10 f. 24 Question whether the I or no to goe oute... The no yielded before division of the house.
1771 Gentleman's Mag. 41 103 The Minority on the division was 101.
1794 Gentleman's Mag. 64 ii. 727 The question..was then put and negatived without a division.
1871 M. Collins Marquis & Merchant II. iv. 115 He was in every division, and sat out every debate.
II. What produces, or is produced by, dividing.† 11. Music. A florid melodic passage: see 7. Obsolete.
9. Something that divides or marks separation; a dividing line or mark; a graduated scale (quot. 1669); a boundary; a partition.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition or fact of being interjacent > [noun] > that which is interjacent > and separates two things
horizona1387
divisionc1400
long divisionc1400
departinga1475
departure1523
separation1615
separatress1630
intercept1821
distancer1884
c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) i. §19. 11 Thise same strikes or diuisiouns ben cleped Azymuthz. And they deuyden the Orisonte of thin astrelabie in 24 deuisiouns.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 6 Noting and observing certaine divisions, answering unto .v. principall paralelles.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. 76 On one side the slit you must place a Division of Inches, and every Inch into 10 Parts Divided.
1715 J. T. Desaguliers tr. N. Gauger Fires Improv'd 51 The Funnel..shou'd have several divisions to cut the Wind.
1797 Monthly Mag. 3 144 A moveable circle, on which are engraved divisions respecting the periodical revolution of the moon.
10.
a. One of the parts into which anything is or may be divided; a portion, section.By the Judicature Act of 1873, the Courts of King's (Queen's) Bench, Common Pleas, Chancery, etc., became ‘divisions’ of the High Court of Justice, e.g. Chancery Division, King's Bench Division, Probate and Admiralty Division.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > one of the parts into which anything is divided
dealinga1300
divisionc1374
partc1392
spacec1392
long divisionc1400
severingc1400
skyvaldc1400
foddinga1425
panelc1450
partition1561
roomstead1600
canton1601
separation1604
share1643
scissurea1667
cutting1726
departmenta1735
segment1762
compartment1793
distribution1829
segregation1859
dept.1869
section1875
tmema1891
c1374 G. Chaucer Compl. Mars 273 To yow hardy knyghtis of renoun, Syn that ye be of my deuisioun.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) 2 Chron. xxxi. 2 Ezechias..sette prestis companyes and Levytis bi their devysiouns, echone in propre office.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 35v The leafe iagged in fiue diuisions like a starre.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 225. ¶5 If we look into particular Communities and Divisions of Men..it is the discreet Man..who guides the Conversation.
1719–20 J. Swift Let. to Young Gentleman (1721) 15 Desiring you to express the Heads of your Divisions in as few and clear Words as you possibly can.
1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 335/2 The total number of the [metropolitan police] force is 3486, who are placed in divisions, each division being employed in a distinct district.
1865 W. L. Collins Etoniana vii. 117 Forms, or divisions, as they are termed at Eton.
1874 E. O. M. Deutsch Lit. Remains 265 Our document contains six principal divisions.
b. spec. A portion of a country, territory, county, district, etc., as marked off for some political, military, administrative, judicial, or other purpose; e.g. the parliamentary or petty sessional divisions of the counties of the United Kingdom, the military divisions of the United States; the administrative divisions of the presidencies (except Madras) and provinces of British India, presided over by a commissioner, and subdivided into ‘districts’.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > territorial jurisdiction or areas subject to > an administrative division of territory > [noun]
purprisea1275
member?a1425
precinct1447
lordshipa1450
captainate1593
region1593
partiality1601
division1640
peopledom1657
convent1658
district1667
mastership1707
superintendency1798
area1849
1640 in J. Nicholson Minute Bk. War Comm. Covenanters Kirkcudbright 3 Nov. (1855) 73 The Committie ordaines that everie captaine, within this divisione, bring in all the runawayes to the next Committie day.
1709 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) VI. 463 The constable..was out of his division.
1751 S. Whatley England's Gazetteer at Truro The quarter-session for its S. and W. divisions being generally held here.
1802 R. Brookes Gen. Gazetteer (ed. 12) Kesteven, one of the three divisions of Lincolnshire.
1835 Penny Cycl. IV. 479/2 [article Blackburn] A sort of supreme authority is vested in two officers..called high-constables, one for the higher and the other for the lower division of the hundred.
1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 456/2 [article Devonshire] The county is divided into two parts for the purpose of parliamentary representation: each division sends two members.
1881 W. W. Hunter Imperial Gazetteer India I. 531 Benares—a Division under a Commissioner in the North-Western Provinces, comprising the six Districts of Azamgarh, [etc.].
1895 Oxf. Direct. Oxford, the capital of and a polling place for the Mid division of the county..is locally in the hundred and petty sessional division of Bullingdon.
c. Military and Nautical. A portion of an army or fleet, consisting of a definite number of troops or vessels, under one commanding officer; also applied to a definite portion of a squadron or battalion (see quots.); also, a portion of a ship's company appropriated to a particular service; in plural, the parade of a ship's company according to its divisions.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > unit of army > [noun] > division
battle1330
left winga1450
right winga1450
parsmenta1522
partimenta1522
battalion1589
division1600
battaliaa1616
fight1622
army unit1847
mobile unit1896
air arm1913
reaction force1923
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > administration and ceremonial > [noun] > parade
manning1706
division1915
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 i. iii. 70 His diuisions..And in three heads, one power against the French, And one against Glendower perforce a third Must take vp vs.
1623 J. Bingham tr. Xenophon Hist. 108 When day-light appeared, euery Coronell led his Diuision or Regiment to a village.
1730 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum Division, (in Marit. Affairs) the third part of a naval army or fleet, or of one of the squadrons thereof under a general officer.
1796 Instr. & Regulations Cavalry 2 Each Squadron is to be told off—by Half squadrons. Four divisions. Eight sub-divisions.
1810 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1838) VI. 79 An army composed of divisions.
1832 Proposed Regulations Cavalry iii. 45 Division—In its strict sense, the fourth part of a Squadron. Divisions are numbered 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th from the right.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Division, a select number of ships in a fleet or squadron distinguished by a particular flag, pendant, or vane.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 320 Two or three battalions are usually formed into a brigade, two brigades into a division.
1915 ‘Bartimeus’ Tall Ship iii. 54 Nine o'clock, sir; all ready for divisions.
1915 ‘Bartimeus’ Tall Ship iii. 55 A moment later the bugle overhead blazed forth ‘Divisions’.
1947 B. Mason in D. M. Davin N.Z. Short Stories (1953) 338 It was Sunday, and we began to make ourselves ‘tiddly’ for Divisions.
1971 Daily Tel. 18 Jan. 10/3 ‘Divisions’, or the muster and inspection of the ship's company each morning in harbour, long regarded as sacrosanct, now seldom occurs more than once a week.
d. Natural History. A section of a larger group in classification: used widely of groups of higher or lower grade, as the divisions of a kingdom, class, order, family, or genus.
ΚΠ
1833 Penny Cycl. I. 501/2 Cuvier..laid down the following general table of the animal kingdom: Four divisions: Vertebrated animals. Molluscous animals [etc.].
1857 A. Henfrey Elem. Course Bot. ii. ii. 203 Jussieu established his primary divisions of the Vegetable Kingdom on characters which..define really natural groups..On these characters stood the three divisions, Acotyledons, Monocotyledons, and Dicotyledons.
1857 A. Henfrey Elem. Course Bot. ii. iii. 218 Subkingdom I. Phanerogamia..Division I. Angiospermia.
1888 G. Rolleston & W. H. Jackson Forms Animal Life (ed. 2) 359 Amniota..Three classes are included in this division of Vertebrata, the Mammalia, Aves, and Reptilia.
e. A section of a railway line. Also attributive. U.S.
ΚΠ
1858 W. P. Smith Great Railway Celebr. 98 The opening of the Western Division of the O. and M. Railroad.
1887 C. B. George 40 Years on Rail xii. 254 My plan..is to have a book to be called the division book kept by each company.
1891 C. Roberts Adrift in Amer. 71 Every line in the United States is divided into divisions of various lengths... Each division is under the supervision of a man who is called a division road master.
1891 C. Roberts Adrift in Amer. 96 Wallace was a division terminus.
1892 A. C. Gunter Miss Dividends 10 This citizen soldier..had been one of the division engineers of the Union Pacific Railway.
f. Any of the two or three grades of imprisonment to which certain misdemeanants could be sentenced with a view to separating hardened criminals from less serious offenders. Obsolete exc. Historical.
ΚΠ
1865 Act 28 & 29 Vict. c. 126 §67 In every Prison to which this Act applies Prisoners convicted of Misdemeanor, and not sentenced to Hard Labour, shall be divided into at least Two Divisions, One of which shall be called the First Division; and..a Misdemeanant of the First Division shall not be deemed to be a Criminal Prisoner within the Meaning of this Act.
1898 Act 61 & 62 Vict. c. 41 §6 Prisoners..not sentenced to penal servitude or hard labour, shall be divided into three divisions... Where a person is.. sentenced to imprisonment without hard labour, the court may direct that he be treated as an offender of the first division or as an offender of the second division. If no direction is given by the court, the offender shall..be treated as an offender of the third division.
1918 A. Huxley Let. 30 Apr. (1969) 150 His trial takes place to-morrow, the appeal, which won't, I imagine, do any good except perhaps to change his six months from second to first division.
1947 Rep. Commissioners of Prisons 1945 64 in Parl. Papers 1946–7 (Cmd. 7146) XIV. 155 The provisions of this Bill [sc. the Criminal Justice Bill, 1938], so far as concerns the prison system, proposed..the abolition of sentences of Penal Servitude and imprisonment with Hard Labour, and of the Triple Division of Offenders.
g. In the Civil Service, the technical designation of the several grades of clerks.
ΚΠ
1876 London Gaz. 12 Feb. 638/2 A Lower Division of the Civil Service shall be constituted. It shall consist of Men Clerks and of Boy Clerks, engaged to serve in any Department of the State to which they may, from time to time, be appointed or transferred.
1876 London Gaz. 12 Feb. 639/1 Promotion from the Lower to the Higher Division of the Service shall not be made without a special certificate from the Civil Service Commissioners.
1892 S. Savill Civil Service Coach 2 The salaries of Clerks in the Second Division..shall commence at 70l. per annum.
1898 Guide Employm. Civil Service 15 Second Division Clerkships... The Second Division forms at present the rank and file of the permanent Civil Service.
1959 Chambers's Encycl. III. 605/1 There is a Civil Service Clerical Association and a First Division Association (the latter representing the administrative grade and taking its name from the old name for that grade).
h. Association Football. A group of teams in competition, usually forming part of a league.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > association football > [noun] > league or division
Football League1889
table1896
premier league1898
division1899
1899 W. J. Oakley & G. O. Smith Football iii. 170 A Second League has been formed, and the number of clubs admitted to the First League or Division has been enlarged.
1908 ‘Bedouin’ Sc. League Football 24 The Second Division of the League was created in 1894–5.
1912 A. Bennett Matador of Five Towns & Other Stories 9 If Knype drop into the Second Division..it'll be all up with first-class football in the Five Towns!
1966 Listener 20 Jan. 88/1 Ipswich Town topped the First Division for a season without ever seeming of international calibre.
1971 Times 13 Apr. 7/1 Leicester, in essence, are a first division club.
Categories »
Compounds
C1. attributive and in other combinations, as division-bell, division-list, division-lobby (sense 8), division-maker, division-making, etc.
ΚΠ
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 408 Nouther the erthe nor the Gaulles suffre nothyng by this devysion makyng.
1843 T. Carlyle Past & Present ii. ix. 119 Parliamentary traditions, division-lists, election-funds.
1894 Times 1 Oct. 6/1 Brigade drill, five days; division drill and manœuvres, four and a half days.
C2. † division-viol n. a smaller kind of ‘bass-viol’, adapted for playing ‘divisions’ (sense 7); the same as viola da gamba (obsolete).
Categories »
division-mark n. Music a slur enclosing a numeral, placed over or under a group of notes not in the ordinary rhythm of the piece, (e.g. a triplet), and showing the number of notes.
division-plate n. (see quot. 1874).
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Division-plate, the disk or wheel in the gear-cutting lathe, which is pierced with various circular systems of holes; each circle represents the divisions of a circumference into a given number of parts.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > stringed instruments > bowable instrument > [noun] > viol > viola da gamba
viol da gamba1597
gamba1598
degamboya1625
division-viol1656
viola da (also di) gamba1724
1656 A. Wood Life & Times (1891) I. 208 J. Procter..was a rare musicion, especiall for the Lyra violl and also for the division violl.
1667 C. Simpson (title page) The Division-Viol; or the Art of playing ex tempore upon a ground.
1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 135/2 Division viol, a violin with frets upon the finger-board.
Derivatives
diˈvisionist n. one who favours or advocates division.
ΚΠ
1889 Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch 15 Jan. The divisionists are embarassed by the absence from the house..of [three members] in favour of division.
diˈvisionless adj. without divisions, (in quot., Not taking part in a division).
ΚΠ
1884 J. H. McCarthy Eng. under Gladstone ii. 37 A youthful ambition to be divisionless.
Draft additions 1997
division sign n. Mathematics the symbol ÷, placed between two quantities to indicate that the former is to be divided by the latter.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical notation or symbol > [noun] > arithmetic or algebraic symbols > division
division sign1934
a1831 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) I. 483/1 ÷ by, the sign of division.]
1934 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. at Division The sign ÷, division sign or mark, placed between numerical expressions indicates [etc.].
1957 Encycl. Brit. XV. 76/1 The division sign (÷) used in Great Britain and in the United States comes from an algebra written by Johann H. Rahn.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.c1374