schism
Americannoun
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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.
Sure, go ahead and ask us to believe that John Wick’s lineage stretches back to Beowulf, the Battle of Hastings and the Great Schism.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2025
Gelasius I is remembered, too, for his response to the Acacian Schism - a split between the Eastern and Western Christian Churches from 484 to 519.
From BBC • Apr. 28, 2025
The Great Schism was not the only cause of their division, given that tensions and disagreements had been growing over time.
From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023
They have met once, in Cuba in 2016 - the first meeting between a pope and a leader of the Russian Orthodox Church since the Great Schism of 1054.
From Reuters • Aug. 5, 2022
The Whigs were conciliated by the repeal of the Schism Act and the Occasional Conformity Act, whilst the Tories were conciliated by the maintenance of the Test Act in all its vigour.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 7 "Geoponici" to "Germany" by Various
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.
