schism

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schism

(skĭz′əm, sĭz′-)

1. A separation or division into factions: "[He] found it increasingly difficult to maintain party unity in the face of ideological schism over civil rights" (Nick Kotz).

a. A formal breach of union within a religious body, especially a Christian church.

b. The offense of attempting to produce such a breach.

[Middle English scisme, from Old French, from Latin schisma, schismat-, from Greek skhisma, from skhizein, to split; see skei- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Usage Note: The word schism, originally spelled scisme, cisme, and sisme in English, was formerly pronounced (sĭz′əm), without a (k) sound, as if it were etymologically related to scissors. (It isn't, or at least not in any straightforward way; see the Word History below.) The modern spelling with the h dates to the 1500s, when the word was respelled to resemble its Latin and Greek ancestors. The pronunciation with (k), (skĭz′əm), was once regarded as incorrect, but over the decades it has gained acceptability to the point where it now predominates in standard American usage. In our 2016 survey, 82 percent of the Usage Panel indicated that they use (skĭz′əm), while 14 percent said they use (sĭz′əm). A third pronunciation, (shĭz′əm), was preferred by just 4 percent. In 1997, the figures were 61 percent, 31 percent, and 8 percent, respectively, indicating that (skĭz′əm) may one day be the word's only common pronunciation.

Word History: Though scissors is technically not cognate with schism, its current spelling is influenced by the unrelated classical Latin word scissor, which meant "cutter." And that scissor was formed from sciss-, the past participle stem of scindō ("to split/cleave/cut/tear apart"), which was indeed cognate with schism.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

schism

(ˈskɪzəm; ˈsɪz-)

1. the division of a group into opposing factions

2. the factions so formed

3. (Ecclesiastical Terms) division within or separation from an established Church, esp the Roman Catholic Church, not necessarily involving differences in doctrine

[C14: from Church Latin schisma, from Greek skhisma a cleft, from skhizein to split]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

schism

(ˈsɪz əm, ˈskɪz-)

n.

1. division or disunion, esp. into mutually opposed parties.

2. the parties so formed.

a. a formal division within, or separation from, a church or religious body over some doctrinal difference.

b. the state of a sect or body formed by such division.

c. the offense of causing or seeking to cause such a division.

[1350–1400; < Middle French < Late Latin (Vulgate) sc(h)isma (s. sc(h)ismat-) < Greek, derivative of schízein to split, with -ma n. suffix of result]

schism

a division especially peculiar to a Christian church or a religious body. — schismatic, n. — schismatical, adj.

Schism

1054, the formal separation between the Orthodox (eastern) and the Roman Catholic (western) Churches.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	schism - division of a group into opposing factions; "another schism like that and they will wind up in bankruptcy" split division - the act or process of dividing
	2.	schism - the formal separation of a church into two churches or the withdrawal of one group over doctrinal differences falling out, severance, rupture, rift, breach, break - a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions); "they hoped to avoid a break in relations"

schism

noun division, break, split, breach, separation, rift, splintering, rupture, discord, disunion The church seems to be on the brink of schism.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

schism

noun

1. An interruption in friendly relations:

alienation, breach, break, disaffection, estrangement, fissure, rent, rift, rupture, split.

2. A state of disagreement and disharmony:

3. The condition of being divided, as in opinion:

disunion, disunity, divergence, divergency, division.

Translations

schism

[ˈsɪzəm, ˈskɪzəm] N → cisma m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

schism

[ˈskɪzəm ˈsɪzəm] n → schisme m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

schism

n (Eccl) → Schisma nt; (general also) → Spaltung f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

schism

[ˈsɪz/əm, ˈskɪz/əm] n → scisma m

References in classic literature ?

They resembled each other in person, dress, language, and manner; and were probably from the same stock, but broken into tribes, or rather hordes, by those feuds and schisms frequent among Indians.

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For the former; it is certain, that heresies, and schisms, are of all others the greatest scandals; yea, more than corruption of manners.

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But heresies have polluted every church, and schisms are the fruit of disputation.

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Protestantism sat at ease, unmindful of schisms, careless of proselytism: Dissent was an inheritance along with a superior pew and a business connection; and Churchmanship only wondered contemptuously at Dissent as a foolish habit that clung greatly to families in the grocery and chandlering lines, though not incompatible with prosperous wholesale dealing.

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I found the new Institution torn by internal schisms even before it was opened to the public.

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During the course of these troubles, the emperors of Blefusca did frequently expostulate by their ambassadors, accusing us of making a schism in religion, by offending against a fundamental doctrine of our great prophet Lustrog, in the fifty-fourth chapter of the Blundecral (which is their Alcoran).

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Thus, the Roman abbey, the philosophers' church, the Gothic art, Saxon art, the heavy, round pillar, which recalls Gregory VII., the hermetic symbolism, with which Nicolas Flamel played the prelude to Luther, papal unity, schism, Saint-Germain des PrÃ©s, Saint-Jacques de la Boucherie,--all are mingled, combined, amalgamated in Notre-Dame.

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There had been a schism among the Chosen People a few months before, some of the younger members of the Church having rebelled against the authority of the Elders, and the result had been the secession of a certain number of the malcontents, who had left Utah and become Gentiles.

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During the Revolution, the Concordat occasioned an unimportant schism, a little segregation of ultra-catholics who refused to recognize the Bishops appointed by the authorities with the consent of the Pope.

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NNA - Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Tuesday said political forces' schisms do not solely hit those concerned, but they severely damage Lebanon's fundamental values.

Mikati: Schisms spoil fundamental values

No matter how malevolent our art, the receiving side always seems to assign it a use-value so that rather than producing schisms in the network, what we make more often produces a method by which schisms can be closed.