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.
Decades of UN-backed talks have failed to reunify the divided island, with the last major round of peace talks in Switzerland collapsing in July 2017.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
A stock’s forward price/earnings ratio is its price divided by the rolling consensus 12-month earnings-per-share estimate among analysts working for brokerage and research firms.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
The emerging science poses a challenge for healthcare, given the traditional divide between medicine and dentistry—fields that have long been divided by separate training, records and insurance systems.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
"If this was on a roll, it would be either divided into multiple rolls or an exceptionally long roll, which is probably not the case."
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
The two hemispheres specialize in different mental skills, but brain functions are not as neatly divided as they appear.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
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.
