scission

American  

[sizh-uhn, sish-] / ˈsɪʒ ən, ˈsɪʃ- /

noun

1. a cutting, dividing, or splitting; division; separation.

2. Chemistry. cleavage.

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scission British  

/ ˈsɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of cutting, splitting, or dividing

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Etymology

Origin of scission

1400–50; late Middle English (< Middle French ) < Late Latin scissiōn- (stem of scissiō ) a cutting, equivalent to sciss ( us ) (past participle of scindere to cut) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

Universal Pictures has just completed Earthquake, starring Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner, which scission will be offered complete with enormous loudspeakers installed in the theater to ensure a seat-shaking rumble for the audience.

From Time Magazine Archive

She had had most of her teeth drawn before I saw her, and an attempt had been made to wrench out the nerve on the left side by the external scission.

From The Purple Cloud by Shiel, M. P. (Matthew Phipps)

But who can say what would be the evils of a scission, and when and where they would end?

From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 3 by Randolph, Thomas Jefferson

Undeveloped she is, like nature, yet beautiful; sunken still in the life of the senses, she dwells in her little paradise without any inner scission.

From Homer's Odyssey A Commentary by Snider, Denton Jaques

During the Civil War the denomination escaped an actual scission by following the neutral views of Campbell, who opposed slavery, war and abolition.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 5 "Dinard" to "Dodsworth" by Various