Misdividing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Carrying out a division wrongly or splitting something into the wrong portions ; separating a whole into parts in a mistaken way
2. Making an error while partitioning a quantity or object ; dividing something up inaccurately so the resulting pieces are incorrect
3. Partitioning a number or thing in the wrong manner ; mistakenly separating items into portions that do not match what was intended

Etymology: The prefix "mis-" comes from Old English, where it meant "wrongly" or "badly," as in "misdeed" or "mistake." It attached itself to many verbs, and "divide" (borrowed from Latin "dividere," meaning "to separate or cut apart") became "misdivide," meaning to divide wrongly. The word is built plainly from these two parts, so there is little hidden history to uncover, but the combination makes sense: to misdivide is to split something into the wrong parts. "Misdividing" is simply the -ing form of that verb, used when describing the act of dividing incorrectly, as in a sentence about someone misdividing a loaf of bread or a set of words. Its meaning follows directly from its parts, with no shift from the original sense.

Synonyms: miscalculate, misallocate

Antonyms: aggregate, combine