division
B2Formal, academic, technical, business, military, everyday (mathematical context)
Definition
Meaning
The act or process of separating something into parts or groups; the state of being divided.
A major section of an organization; a disagreement or difference between people; the mathematical operation of dividing one number by another; a partition or boundary; a military unit.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Polysemous word with meanings spanning mathematics, organizational structure, conflict, and physical separation. Context is crucial for disambiguation.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
In sports, British English uses 'division' more commonly for football league tiers (e.g., 'the Championship is the second division'), while American English uses it for baseball/football conference subgroups. Military unit sizes may differ slightly in naming conventions.
Connotations
In political/social contexts, both varieties strongly associate 'division' with conflict, disagreement, and societal splits.
Frequency
Comparatively high frequency in both varieties, with slightly higher usage in American English in business/military contexts.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
division between X and Ydivision of X into Ydivision among Xdivision over XVocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “division of labour”
- “divide and rule”
- “cross the great divide”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Refers to separate departments or units within a corporation (e.g., 'the automotive division').
Academic
Used in mathematics, biology (cell division), social sciences (social division), and humanities.
Everyday
Common in discussing family disagreements, sharing items, or basic arithmetic.
Technical
Specific meanings in military (tactical units), biology (mitosis/meiosis), and computer science (integer division).
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The council voted to division the house.
- They will division the estate equally.
American English
- The committee decided to division the funds.
- We need to division the tasks.
adverb
British English
- The land was divisionally allocated.
- They worked divisionally on the project.
American English
- The teams were split divisionally.
- Resources were distributed divisionally.
adjective
British English
- The divisional headquarters is in London.
- Divisional boundaries were redrawn.
American English
- Divisional playoffs start next week.
- The divisional manager approved the budget.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- The division of the cake was fair.
- Ten divided by two is a simple division.
- There was a clear division of opinion in the meeting.
- The company has a new marketing division.
- The political division within the party became publicly apparent.
- Cell division is fundamental to biological growth.
- The socioeconomic divisions in the city have deepened over the past decade.
- The algorithm uses integer division followed by modulus operation.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Imagine a pizza being DIVIDED into slices – each slice is a DIVISION of the whole.
Conceptual Metaphor
SOCIETY IS A BODY (social divisions are like fractures); ORGANIZATIONS ARE PLANTS (divisions are branches); CONFLICT IS SEPARATION.
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid confusing with 'дивизия' (only military); Russian 'разделение' covers both 'division' and 'separation'; mathematical 'деление' is narrower.
Common Mistakes
- Using 'division' for small splits (prefer 'split'); confusing 'division' with 'department' in all contexts; incorrect preposition ('division in' vs 'division between').
Practice
Quiz
In which context does 'division' NOT typically refer to separation?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Both. Uncountable when referring to the process (division of assets), countable when referring to sections (three divisions).
'Division' implies splitting into distinct parts often with functional differences; 'separation' focuses more on creating distance or isolation.
Yes, in contexts like 'division of labour' (efficiency) or 'cell division' (growth), though it often carries negative connotations of conflict.
Context is key: mathematical (numbers), organizational (company structure), social (conflict), biological (cells), military (units).