divisiveadj.
/dɪˈvʌɪsɪv/ 1. Having the quality or function of dividing; causing or expressing division or distribution; making or perceiving distinctions, analytical.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [adjective]
subtlec1300
subtilea1450
judgemented1548
sundry1564
refined1574
discerning1583
respective1597
discernible1603
divisive1603
distinct1606
distinctional1607
discriminativea1638
distinctive1646
distinctial1648
discernable1650
discriminating1650
sagacious1650
discriminanta1656
dignoscitive1674
distinguishing1699
discriminate1743
discriminatory1745
diacritical1856
discriminational1918
the mind > possession > giving > distributing or dealing out > [adjective] > dividing and sharing
divisive1603
divisory1614
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > action of dividing or divided condition > [adjective] > undergoing division > relating to or of the nature of division
divisive1603
diaeretic1640
divisional1738
divisionary1815
fissive1875
divisorial1882
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1341 Dualitie, which is a divisive nature.
a1638 J. Mede Treat. Daniel's Weeks in Wks. (1672) iii. 700 The Hebrews want those numbers which the Grammarians call Distributive or Divisive, Terni, quaterni, quini..&c.
1660 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. III. i. 82 The common Sciences, as the demonstrative, the definitive, the divisive.
a1688 R. Cudworth Treat. Eternal & Immutable Morality (1731) iv. iii. 193 With its subtle Divisive Power.
1831 T. Carlyle Life Schiller in Misc. Ess. (1872) III. 110 As the one spirit was intuitive, all-embracing..so the other was scholastic, divisive.
2. Producing or tending to division, disunion, dissension, or discord.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > [adjective] > causing or desiring dissension > causing disunity
disuniting1611
divisive1642
segregative1875
disunifying1891
1642 Declar. Lords & Com. to Gen. Ass. Ch. Scot., Lond. 11 Divisive motions against the Course of Reformation.
1649 J. Milton Observations in Articles of Peace with Irish Rebels 57 Sowers of sedition, or authors of divisive motions.
1653 R. Baxter Christian Concord 6 We are not so unconscionably self-conceited or divisive, as to think we must..reject all those..that differ..from us.
1711 Act of Genl. Assembly of Ch. of Scotl. (Subscription Formula, Question 6) Do you promise that you shall follow no divisive courses from the present establishment of the Church?
1829 T. Carlyle Voltaire in Misc. (1872) II. 147 Vanity is of a divisive, not of a uniting nature.
Derivatives
diˈvisively adv. in a divisive manner, by way of division.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > action of dividing or divided condition > [adverb]
up1530
dividingly1580
divisivelya1600
dividedly1607
a1600 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie viii. iv. §6 Kings..are in authority over the Church, if not collectively, yet divisively understood; that is over each particular person within that Church.
1602 W. Warner Epitome Hist. Eng. in Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) 353 Seuerall parts or Colonies, hild, deuisiuely, by seauenteene different peoples.
diˈvisiveness n. the quality of being divisive, tendency to divide or split up.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > [noun] > division or lack of unity > tendency to
divisiveness1837
dissiliency1884
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. iii. i. 161 So invincible is man's tendency to unite, with all the invincible divisiveness he has.
1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 29 Oct. 2/2 This, surely, of all times is not the hour for divisiveness. Every soldier is wanted..Every voice calls for union.
Draft additions August 2010
Music. Of rhythm or metre (esp. in Western music): characterized by division into regular and equal rhythmic units. Contrasted with additive adj. 5.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > duration of notes > proportion of notes or rhythm > [noun] > types of proportion
prolationa1393
imperfection1561
time?1596
induction1597
retort1597
divisive1952
1952 C. Sachs in Musical Q. 38 391 Whether or not the regulating beat in divisive rhythm is perceptible or else contradicted by a freer span of the melodic line, it exists as an all-present function of the organizing forces in our bodies and minds.
1968 Perspectives of New Music 7 105 Silence can connote downbeat only after a set has been established, as in, for example, divisive meter.
1980 Z. Keren Contemp. Israeli Music i. 24 The typical Western rhythm is divisive.
2003 D. B. Scott From Erotic to Demonic iv. 96 Even complex syncopations may bounce off this basic pattern (for example, ‘Fascinating Rhythm’, by Ira and George Gershwin); that is, they work around a divisive meter.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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adj.a1600