Sunderance

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of parting things apart or the condition of being split off from one another ; a state of being cut off, divided or isolated from something once joined
2. Forcible or natural separation of two things that were previously united ; the condition of being detached, severed or kept apart from a former connection
3. A parting or division that tears things from each other ; the lasting state of being cut off or estranged from what was once close

Etymology: "Sunderance" is a plain formation: the verb "sunder," meaning to split apart or separate, with the suffix "-ance" added to turn the action into a noun for the act or state of separating. The verb itself goes back to Old English "sundrian," from the same root as "sunder" in the sense of apart, which is why the word feels so close to "asunder," meaning into pieces. Because the suffix does the work, the noun reads as a near-literal description of the process: the sundering, the parting. It belongs to the same family as "severance" and "disturbance," where "-ance" similarly turns a verb into the thing that is done.

Synonyms: sundering, separation, severance, division

Antonyms: union, joining, unification