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The act of dissociating or disuniting; a state of separation; disunion. It will add infinitely dissociation, distraction, and confusion of these confederate republics. Burke.

The act of dissolving, sundering, or separating into component parts; separation. Dissolutions of ancient amities. Shak.

, especially the shortest line joining two points or things that are separate; measure of separation in place. Every particle attracts every other with a force . . . inversely proportioned to the square of the distance. Sir I. Newton.

Separation by bounds. [Obs.] Hammond.

The separation of the volatile parts of a substance from the more fixed; specifically, the operation of driving off gas or vapor from volatile liquids or solids, by heat in a retort or still, and the condensation of the products as far as possible by a cool receiver, alembic, or condenser; rectification; vaporization;…

A marking off by visible signs; separation into parts; division. [Obs.] The distinction of tragedy into acts was not known. Dryden.

The quality or state of being distinct; a separation or difference that prevents confusion of parts or things. The soul's . . . distinctness from the body. Cudworth.

The act of distracting; a drawing apart; separation. To create distractions among us. Bp. Burnet.

Separation into parts or classes; arrangement of anything into parts; disposition; classification.

Expressing separation; denoting a taking singly, not collectively; as, a distributive adjective or pronoun, such as each, either, every; a distributive numeral, as (Latin) bini (two by two). Distributive operation (Math.), any operation which either consists of two or more parts, or works upon two or more things, and w…

The termination of union; separation; disjunction; as, the disunion of the body and the soul.

A state of separation or disunion; want of unity. Dr. H. More.

A separation into two parts or branches; a forking; a divergence.

To cause separation; to disunite. A gulf, a strait, the sea intervening between islands, divide less than the matted forest. Bancroft.

he quality of being divisible; the property of bodies by which their parts are capable of separation. Divisibility . . . is a primary attribute of matter. Sir W. Hamilton.

The act or process of diving anything into parts, or the state of being so divided; separation. I was overlooked in the division of the spoil. Gibbon.

divisional general; a divisional surgeon of police. Divisional planes (Geol.), planes of separation between rock masses. They include joints.

Creating, or tending to create, division, separation, or difference. It [culture] is after all a dainty and divisive quality, and can not reach to the depths of humanity. J. C. Shairp. -- Di*vi"sive*ly, adv. -- Di*vi"sive*ness, n. Carlyle.

The separation of a married woman from the bed and board of her husband -- divorce a mensa et toro (or thoro), "from bed board."

Dissolution of the marriage tie; divorce; separation. Let him write her a divorcement. Deut. xxiv. 1. The divorcement of our written from our spoken language. R. Morris.