from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Division \Di*vi"sion\, n. [F. division, L. divisio, from
dividere. See {Divide}.]
1. The act or process of diving anything into parts, or the
state of being so divided; separation.
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I was overlooked in the division of the spoil.
--Gibbon.
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2. That which divides or keeps apart; a partition.
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3. The portion separated by the divining of a mass or body; a
distinct segment or section.
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Communities and divisions of men. --Addison.
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4. Disunion; difference in opinion or feeling; discord;
variance; alienation.
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There was a division among the people. --John vii.
43.
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5. Difference of condition; state of distinction;
distinction; contrast. --Chaucer.
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I will put a division between my people and thy
people. --Ex. viii.
23.
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6. Separation of the members of a deliberative body, esp. of
the Houses of Parliament, to ascertain the vote.
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The motion passed without a division. --Macaulay.
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7. (Math.) The process of finding how many times one number
or quantity is contained in another; the reverse of
multiplication; also, the rule by which the operation is
performed.
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8. (Logic) The separation of a genus into its constituent
species.
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9. (Mil.)
(a) Two or more brigades under the command of a general
officer.
(b) Two companies of infantry maneuvering as one
subdivision of a battalion.
(c) One of the larger districts into which a country is
divided for administering military affairs.
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10. (Naut.) One of the groups into which a fleet is divided.
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11. (Mus.) A course of notes so running into each other as to
form one series or chain, to be sung in one breath to one
syllable.
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12. (Rhet.) The distribution of a discourse into parts; a
part so distinguished.
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13. (Biol.) A grade or rank in classification; a portion of a
tribe or of a class; or, in some recent authorities,
equivalent to a subkingdom.
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{Cell division} (Biol.), a method of cell increase, in which
new cells are formed by the division of the parent cell.
In this process, the cell nucleus undergoes peculiar
differentiations and changes, as shown in the figure (see
also {Karyokinesis}). At the same time the protoplasm of
the cell becomes gradually constricted by a furrow
transverse to the long axis of the nuclear spindle,
followed, on the completion of the division of the
nucleus, by a separation of the cell contents into two
masses, called the daughter cells.
{Long division} (Math.), the process of division when the
operations are mostly written down.
{Short division} (Math.), the process of division when the
operations are mentally performed and only the results
written down; -- used principally when the divisor is not
greater than ten or twelve.
Syn: compartment; section; share; allotment; distribution;
separation; partition; disjunction; disconnection;
difference; variance; discord; disunion.
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