division or disunion, especially into mutually opposed parties.
the parties so formed.
Ecclesiastical.
a formal division within, or separation from, a church or religious body over some doctrinal difference.
the state of a sect or body formed by such division.
the offense of causing or seeking to cause such a division.
Origin of schism
1350–1400; <Late Latin (Vulgate) sc(h)isma (stem sc(h)ismat-) <Greek, derivative of schízein to split, with -ma (stem -mat-) noun suffix of result; replacing Middle English (s)cisme, sisme<Middle French <Late Latin, as above
Aberdeen, perched on the North Sea, offers a perfect example of the schism between the top and bottom earners.
Scotland’s ‘Yes’ Campaign and the Myth of Scottish Equality|Noah Caldwell|September 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The schism in Wisconsin was the first crack in the Republican Party's hegemony.
The GOP’s Last Identity Crisis Remade U.S. Politics|Michael Wolraich|July 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Instead, journalists reached back to an earlier Republican schism from the days of Ulysses S. Grant.
The GOP’s Last Identity Crisis Remade U.S. Politics|Michael Wolraich|July 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For the House of Israel, such authenticity has posed the threat of a schism, between Israel and Diaspora.
Will Women MKs Lead The New Israel?|Paul Usiskin|March 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But they did not think a schism inside the PKK would lead to such a killing.
Slaughter in Paris: Who Killed the Kurds?|Christopher Dickey, Tracy McNicoll|January 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
When men set up terms of communion of their own, there you find the principle of heresy; there, too, there must be schism.
The Assembly of God|C. (Charles) H. (Henry) Mackintosh
Buddhism, although, tolerant of heresy, has ever been vehement in its persecution of schism.
Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History, Antiquities and Productions, Volume 1 (of 2)|James Emerson Tennent
To heal the schism caused by the attitude of the Arsenites 'was the serious labour of the Church and State' for half a century.
Byzantine Churches in Constantinople|Alexander Van Millingen
These English brethren, when in Scotland, consulted Knox on the dispute which they made a ground of schism.
John Knox and the Reformation|Andrew Lang
"Schism is in the schism," said the Romanists, and the Emperor flattered himself with an easy victory.
History of the Great Reformation, Volume IV|J. H. Merle D'Aubign
British Dictionary definitions for schism
schism
/ (ˈskɪzəm, ˈsɪz-) /
noun
the division of a group into opposing factions
the factions so formed
division within or separation from an established Church, esp the Roman Catholic Church, not necessarily involving differences in doctrine
Word Origin for schism
C14: from Church Latin schisma, from Greek skhisma a cleft, from skhizein to split