scission

[ sizh-uhn, sish- ]

/ ˈsɪʒ ən, ˈsɪʃ- /

Save This Word!

noun

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

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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

Words nearby scission

scirrhoid, scirrhous, scirrhus, scissel, scissile, scission, scissor, scissorlike, scissors, scissors chair, scissors jack

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use scission in a sentence

He, therefore, has the scission in himself, he longs to leave and be restored out of this realm of mere nature.
Homer's Odyssey|Denton J. Snider
It manifestly carries the Trojan scission into Olympus and drives out in disgrace the Trojan deities.
Homer's Odyssey|Denton J. Snider
Does he not show within himself a deep scission—between his desire to return and his deed?
Homer's Odyssey|Denton J. Snider
Scission is seen to take place equally in the world of ideas; but the result, instead of being a new life, is a new abstraction.
Decadence and Other Essays on the Culture of Ideas|Remy de Gourmont

But who can say what would be the evils of a scission, and when and where they would end?
Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson|Thomas Jefferson

British Dictionary definitions for scission

scission

/ (ˈsɪʃən) /

noun

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

Word Origin for scission

C15: from Late Latin scissiō, from scindere to split

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012