Divorce

//dɪˈvɔːs// name, noun, verb

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The 65th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.
Noun
  1. 1
    The legal dissolution of a marriage. countable, uncountable

    "Richard obtained a divorce from his wife some years ago, but hasn't returned to the dating scene."

  2. 2
    the legal dissolution of a marriage wordnet
  3. 3
    A separation of connected things. countable, uncountable

    "The Civil War split between Virginia and West Virginia was a divorce based along cultural and economic as well as geographic lines."

  4. 4
    The separation of a bonded pair of animals. countable, uncountable
  5. 5
    That which separates. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "Go with me like good angels to my end; / And as the long divorce of steel falls on me, / Make of your prayers one sweet sacrifice, / And lift my soul to heaven. Lead on, o' God's name."

Verb
  1. 1
    To legally dissolve a marriage between two people. transitive

    "A ship captain can marry couples, but cannot divorce them."

  2. 2
    part; cease or break association with wordnet
  3. 3
    To end one's own marriage to (a person) in this way. transitive

    "Lucy divorced Steve when she discovered that he had been unfaithful."

  4. 4
    get a divorce; formally terminate a marriage wordnet
  5. 5
    To obtain a legal divorce. intransitive

    "Edna and Simon divorced last year; he got the house, and she retained the business."

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    To separate something that was connected. transitive

    "The radical group voted to divorce itself from the main faction and start an independent movement."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Derived from Old French divorce, from Latin dīvortium, from dīvertere (“to turn aside”), from dī- (“apart”) + vertere (“to turn”); see verse.

Etymology 2

Derived from Old French divorce, from Latin dīvortium, from dīvertere (“to turn aside”), from dī- (“apart”) + vertere (“to turn”); see verse.

Next best steps

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: divorce