disunion

American  

[dis-yoon-yuhn] / dɪsˈyun yən /

noun

1. a severance of union; separation; disjunction.

2. lack of unity; dissension.

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Etymology

Origin of disunion

First recorded in 1590–1600; dis- ¹ + union

Explanation

Disunion describes what happens when a club disbands or a marriage breaks up. The disunion of your book group means all the members have gone their separate ways. The noun disunion means the coming apart of some connection or alliance, and because it's such a formal word it's often used to talk about governments or business federations. You could say that the disunion of Britain and India resulted in Partition, or that the US Civil War nearly ended in disunion. The word combines dis, "lack or not," and union, with its Latin root of unionem, "oneness or unity."

Example Sentences

Mr. Merry is the author of six books on American history and foreign policy, including “Decade of Disunion: How Massachusetts and South Carolina Led the Way to Civil War, 1849-1861.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025

They, too, travel into another reality, the Disunion territories and, finally, the supernatural highway known as Shadowbahn.

From Washington Post • Feb. 6, 2017

Disunion: A Mother Writes to Lincoln What a letter from the mother of a black soldier says about the struggle of African-American women during the Civil War.

From New York Times • Aug. 2, 2013

With this post, Disunion begins two weeks of daily reporting on the historic railroad journey of President-elect Abraham Lincoln, as he traveled from Springfield, Ill., to assume the presidency in Washington, D.C.

From New York Times • Feb. 10, 2011

It ought not to escape notice that General Robert E. Lee is not entitled to the defense so often made for him, that in joining the Disunion movement he followed the voice of his State.

From Twenty Years of Congress, Vol. 1 From Lincoln to Garfield, with a Review of the Events Which Led to the Political Revolution of 1860 by Blaine, James Gillespie