division

[dih-vizh-uh n] /dɪˈvɪʒ ən/
noun
1.
the act or process of dividing; state of being divided.
2.
Arithmetic. the operation inverse to multiplication; the finding of a quantity, the quotient, that when multiplied by a given quantity, the divisor, gives another given quantity, the dividend; the process of ascertaining how many times one number or quantity is contained in another.
3.
something that divides or separates; partition.
4.
something that marks a division; dividing line or mark.
5.
one of the parts into which a thing is divided; section.
6.
separation by difference of opinion or feeling; disagreement; dissension.
7.
Government. the separation of a legislature, or the like, into two groups, in taking a vote.
8.
one of the parts into which a country or an organization is divided for political, judicial, military, or other purposes.
9.
Military.
  1. (in the army) a major administrative and tactical unit, larger than a regiment or brigade and smaller than a corps: it is usually commanded by a major general.
  2. (in the navy) a number of ships, usually four, forming a tactical group that is part of a fleet or squadron.
10.
a major autonomous or semi-independent but subordinate administrative unit of an industrial enterprise, government bureau, transportation system, or university:
the sales division of our company; the Division of Humanities.
11.
(in sports) a category or class containing all the teams or competitors grouped together according to standing, skill, weight, age, or the like:
a team in the first division; the heavyweight division in boxing.
12.
Botany. a major primary subdivision of the plant kingdom, consisting of one or more classes; plant phylum.
13.
Zoology. any subdivision of a classificatory group or category.
14.
Horticulture. a type of propagation in which new plants are grown from segments separated from the parent plant.
15.
the ornamentation of a melodic line in 17th- and 18th-century music.
Origin
1325-75; Middle English divisioun, devisioun (< Anglo-French) < Latin dīvīsiōn- (stem of dīvīsiō), equivalent to dīvīs(us) (see divisible) + -iōn- -ion
Related forms
divisional, divisionary, adjective
divisionally, adverb
hyperdivision, noun
interdivision, noun
interdivisional, adjective
interdivisionally, adverb
misdivision, noun
nondivision, noun
nondivisional, adjective
predivision, noun
prodivision, adjective
redivision, noun
self-division, noun
semidivision, noun
superdivision, noun
Synonyms
1. separation, apportionment, allotment, distribution. Division, partition suggest dividing into parts. Division usually means marking off or separating a whole into parts. Partition often adds the idea of allotting or assigning parts following division: partition of an estate, of a country. 4. boundary, demarcation. 5. compartment, segment. 6. breach, rift, disunion, rupture, estrangement, alienation.
Antonyms
6. accord, union.
Examples from the web for division
  • The room he'd seen was the museum's taxidermy division.
  • He was head of the bank's wealth-management division at the time.
  • Cancers can start in almost any body cell, due to damage or defects in genes involved in cell division.
  • Included in the growing roster of potentially beneficial sponge molecules are ones that fight inflammation and cell division.
  • Propagate by division or from cuttings taken before flower buds form.
  • In other words, there's a locked-down spy division and a relatively open geek division.
  • GE plans to sell its consumer and industrial division.
  • The team also found that hormones controlled the rate of cell division in a mouse's developing digits.
  • The holographic division consequently gives us a rather neat way of writing down the following symmetry balance equation.
  • When a wound is healing, cell division must be sped up.
British Dictionary definitions for division

division

/dɪˈvɪʒən/
noun
1.
the act of dividing or state of being divided
2.
the act of sharing out; distribution
3.
something that divides or keeps apart, such as a boundary
4.
one of the parts, groups, etc, into which something is divided
5.
a part of a government, business, country, etc, that has been made into a unit for administrative, political, or other reasons
6.
a formal vote in Parliament or a similar legislative body
7.
a difference of opinion, esp one that causes separation
8.
(in sports) a section, category, or class organized according to age, weight, skill, etc
9.
a mathematical operation, the inverse of multiplication, in which the quotient of two numbers or quantities is calculated. Usually written: a ÷ b, divab, a/b
10.
  1. (army) a major formation, larger than a regiment or brigade but smaller than a corps, containing the necessary arms to sustain independent combat
  2. (navy) a group of ships of similar type or a tactical unit of naval aircraft
  3. (air force) an organization normally comprising two or more wings with required support units
11.
(pl) (navy) the assembly of all crew members for the captain's inspection
12.
(biology) (in traditional classification systems) a major category of the plant kingdom that contains one or more related classes Compare phylum (sense 1)
13.
(horticulture) any type of propagation in plants in which a new plant grows from a separated part of the original
14.
(logic) the fallacy of inferring that the properties of the whole are also true of the parts, as Britain is in debt, so John Smith is in debt
15.
(esp in 17th-century English music) the art of breaking up a melody into quick phrases, esp over a ground bass
Derived Forms
divisional, divisionary, adjective
divisionally, adverb
Word Origin
C14: from Latin dīvīsiō, from dīvidere to divide
Word Origin and History for division
n.

late 14c., from Old French division, from Latin divisionem (nominative divisio), from divid-, stem of dividere (see divide). Military sense is first recorded 1590s. Mathematical sense is from early 15c. The mathematical division sign supposedly was invented by British mathematician John Pell (1611-1685) who taught at Cambridge and Amsterdam.

division in Medicine

division di·vi·sion (dĭ-vĭzh'ən)
n.

  1. The act or process of dividing.

  2. Cell division.

  3. The operation of determining how many times one quantity is contained in another; the inverse of multiplication.

division in Science
division
  (dĭ-vĭzh'ən)   

  1. The act, process, or operation of finding out how many times one number or quantity is contained in another.

  2. A taxonomic classification within the plant kingdom that ranks immediately above a class and corresponds to a phylum in other kingdoms. See Table at taxonomy.