di|vi|sion

di|vi|sion «duh VIHZH uhn», noun.

1. the act or process of dividing or state of being divided: »

the division of time into hours, days, and weeks.

SYNONYM(S): partition, severance.

2. the act of giving some to each; a sharing: »

A fair division of the work among the children got the chores done quickly. Making large numbers of automobiles is possible only by a division of labor, in which each worker has a certain part of the work to do.

SYNONYM(S): allotment, distribution, apportionment.

3. the process of dividing one number by another: »

26 ÷ 2 = 13 is a simple division.

4. a thing that divides. A boundary or a partition is a division.

5. one of the parts into which a thing is divided; group; section; department: »

the research division of a drug company, the engineering division of a university. The cat family is a division of the carnivorous animals.

6. Botany. a major group in the plant kingdom. The plants in a division are thought to be related by descent from a common ancestral group.

7. a) a military unit made up of several brigades or regiments plus supporting troops, usually commanded by a major general. It is smaller than a corps. b) a tactical subdivision of a fleet or squadron, consisting of two or more ships or aircraft of the same type: »

How long will Canada keep an air division…in Europe? (Maclean's).

8. one of the parts into which a country, county, or other territory is divided for political, administrative, judicial, or military purposes: »

a court in the seventh division.

9. a difference of opinion, thought, or feeling; disagreement: »

There was a division in school over whether to substitute soccer for football. There still are divisions among the American people (Newsweek).

SYNONYM(S): dissension, disunion.

10. a) the separation of a legislative body into two groups for voting. b) the vote registered by such a separation. Abbr: div.

╂[< Old French division, learned borrowing from Latin dīvīsiō, -ōnis < dīvidere; see etym. under divide (Cf. ↑divide)]