Disever

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To split something apart or cut it into separate pieces, especially so that the parts no longer remain joined together
2. To part or divide a whole into distinct sections, breaking the connection that once held its components as one
3. To sever or detach one thing from another so that they become separate, an archaic term for dividing something

Etymology: "Disever" is a rare English verb meaning to separate or split something into parts. It was formed in Middle English from the Latin prefix "dis-", meaning apart or asunder, joined to "sever", which came into English through Old French "severer" from Latin "separare," to separate. The prefix and the base therefore both carry the same core idea of division, so the word is in effect a reinforced form of "sever." Because "sever" itself has been in use for centuries, "disever" reads as an emphatic doubling of the same sense rather than a new idea. Its meaning was never really separate from its parent word.

Synonyms: sever, separate, divide

Antonyms: join, unite, connect