Diremptions

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act or process of dividing or separating something into parts ; a rupture or break in a connection or unity ; a distinct interval or gap between elements
2. The state of being split apart or severed ; the occurrence of interruptions or discontinuities within a sequence ; the manifestation of boundaries or separations in a whole
3. The condition of disunion resulting from breaking or parting ; instances where continuity or cohesion is disrupted ; spatial or conceptual divisions that separate entities or concepts

Etymology: "Diremptions" is simply the plural of "diremption," so it refers to several separations or breaks at once. The noun comes from Latin "dirēmptiō," meaning "a separation," which was formed from the verb "dirimere," "to separate" or "to take apart." That verb was itself built from "dis-," "apart," and "emere," "to take" or "to buy," so the image underneath is of taking things in different directions until they come apart. The Latin noun was made by adding the suffix "-iō," which Latin used to turn verbs into abstract nouns about the action or state they describe. English borrowed the word as a learned term, keeping the sense of a physical division and extending it to a break in a relationship or unity, and to a gap that separates one element from another. The plural form simply follows the English pattern for count nouns.