divided
Americanadjective
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separated; separate.
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shared; apportioned.
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(of a leaf ) cut into distinct portions by incisions extending to the midrib or base.
adjective
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botany another word for dissected
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split; not united
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of divided
Explanation
Something that's divided is sectioned or split into parts. A divided political party might be separated into several groups with very different opinions on what the party's priorities ought to be. Things can be physically divided, the way a pizza is when it's cut into eight separate pieces, or the way a highway is when it has a concrete barrier between lanes that go in different directions. There's also a figurative way of being divided, like a divided family that's feuding about something, or divided experts who disagree on the findings of a study. The adjective divided comes from the Latin dividere, "to force apart, cleave, or distribute."
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.
Appeared in the March 18, 2026, print edition as 'Increasingly Divided Fed Marks a New Era'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026
Courtney E. Martin is the author of Learning in Public: Lessons for a Racially Divided America From My Daughter’s School, among other books, and writes a weekly newsletter called Examined Family.
From Slate • Dec. 31, 2025
As the state motto of Kentucky reminds us: “United We Stand. Divided We Fall.”
From Salon • Jan. 13, 2025
This year, the words “A House Divided Shall Not Stand” are carved into the corn, along with “God Bless America.”
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 15, 2024
Beside the legal pad is a biography of the author, a thick book called Divided Soul, the pages marked by numerous scraps of torn-up paper.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
