secession
an act or instance of seceding.
(often initial capital letter)U.S. History. the withdrawal from the Union of 11 Southern states in the period 1860–61, which brought on the Civil War.
(usually initial capital letter)Fine Arts. a style of art in Germany and Austria concurrent with and related to Art Nouveau.
Origin of secession
1Other words from secession
- se·ces·sion·al, adjective
- non·se·ces·sion, noun
- non·se·ces·sion·al, adjective
Words that may be confused with secession
Words Nearby secession
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use secession in a sentence
The chairman of the Texas GOP seriously suggested secession when the last, desperate legal challenges to the election failed.
Is the Republican Party Truly Trumpist Now? The Impeachment Trial Is the Ultimate Test | David French | February 10, 2021 | TimeChanneling Douglas’s condemnation of secession, McConnell told listeners that “public doubt alone” could not “justify a radical break when that doubt was incited without evidence.”
Mitch McConnell has repeated Stephen A. Douglas’s biggest mistake | Lauren Haumesser | January 12, 2021 | Washington PostThe closest parallel is probably the Southern “Fire-Eaters” who were rabid advocates of enslavement and secession before the Civil War.
Afterward, Texas Republican Party Chairman Allen West declared that “law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the Constitution” — a seeming endorsement of secession.
Gracious losers protect our democracy. Sore ones undermine it. | Edward McClelland | January 6, 2021 | Washington PostAmerica is polarized with a political culture growing more toxic by the day, but the realities of secession would be too much to bear.
In the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Plains, and Far West, secession sympathizers top out at 22 percent of the population.
But very few of us have imagined that they could fuel a generalized positive view of secession.
The larger the pro-secession minority becomes, the more the majority opposed to secession will believe that Hobbes was right.
According to Reuters, current Democrat support for secession is hovering around 20 percent.
And here in America, the spirit of secession is gaining strength too.
Even as late as April 4, the Richmond convention had rejected secession by a vote of two to one.
Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia | Dorothy M. TorpeyOn February 13, 1861, a special state convention was held in Richmond to discuss the possibility of secession.
Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia | Dorothy M. TorpeyOn May 4, a large majority of the Virginia citizens voted their approval of secession.
Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia | Dorothy M. TorpeyBut, even at that time, which was within six weeks of election day, the idea of secession did not prevail.
The Supplies for the Confederate Army | Caleb HuseGentlemen, secession is played out—the dog is dead—the child is born, and his name is Jeff.
Portrait and Biography of Parson Brownlow, The Tennessee Patriot | William Gannaway Brownlow
British Dictionary definitions for secession
/ (sɪˈsɛʃən) /
the act of seceding
(often capital) mainly US the withdrawal in 1860–61 of 11 Southern states from the Union to form the Confederacy, precipitating the American Civil War
Origin of secession
1Derived forms of secession
- secessional, adjective
- secessionism, noun
- secessionist, noun, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for secession
The withdrawal from the United States of eleven southern states in 1860 and 1861. The seceding states formed a government, the Confederacy, in early 1861. Hostilities against the remaining United States, the Union, began in April 1861 (see Fort Sumter), and the Civil War followed.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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