schism
Americannoun
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schisms
plural
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division or disunion, especially into mutually opposed parties.
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the parties so formed.
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Ecclesiastical.
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a formal division within, or separation from, a church or religious body over some doctrinal difference.
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the state of a sect or body formed by such division.
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the offense of causing or seeking to cause such a division.
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noun
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the division of a group into opposing factions
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the factions so formed
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division within or separation from an established Church, esp the Roman Catholic Church, not necessarily involving differences in doctrine
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
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
Explanation
The sound of the word schism reminds some people of the sound of a piece of paper being torn in two; which makes sense — when a group has a big fight and the group is torn in two, that's a schism. Although the Spanish club could have a schism over taco night versus tamale fest, schism often refers to splits in the church. You might have heard of the Great Schism of 1054, when the eastern Christian church, headquartered in Byzantium (now Istanbul), broke away from the western one headquartered in Rome.
Vocabulary lists containing schism
100 SAT words Beginning with "S"
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "Q" "R" and "S"
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Gulliver's Travels
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
His death in battle there in the 7th Century cemented the schism between Shia and Sunnis.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
As in 1988, the society's future bishops will be consecrated without assigned jurisdiction from Rome, in a situation the group claims precludes any schism or excommunication -- though the Vatican views the matter differently.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
But if the growing schism between the tech industry and the broad public is generating bad blood, it also opens a path to reforms that would have been unthinkable a few months ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
The scientists watching this schism aren’t sure why things became so belligerent.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2026
The Brownings’ elopement created a schism between their families. sherbet.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
Instead, the pretrial this month resurfaced the schisms.
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2026
It is a long-held tenet of the theater that the most interesting characters, like the most interesting people, are defined by their schisms and paradoxes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
The schisms underscore the growing fragility of the nascent coalition in the waning days of its founder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
England's political and religious schisms would lead it to a midcentury civil war.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 6, 2024
Feverishly he followed in periodicals the Dadaist movements and schisms, the strangely feminine jealousies and religiousness, the obscurantisms of the forming and breaking schools.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
