Standard Lemma guide

dissever

verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /dɪˈsɛvə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /dɪˈsɛvɚ/

1

verb

Meaning 1

To separate (two or more things); to split apart (something).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To divide (something) into separate parts.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Examples

  • If the bridge is destroyed, the shores are dissevered.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

separate into parts or portions

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • divide the cake into three equal parts
  • The British carved up the Ottoman Empire after World War I

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: divide, split, split up, separate, carve up

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: change integrity

Narrower terms: subdivide, format, initialize, initialise, sectionalize, sectionalise, triangulate, unitize, unitise, lot, parcel, sliver, splinter, paragraph, canton, Balkanize, Balkanise

History

Etymology

From Middle English disseveren, from Anglo-Norman desevrer, Old French dessevrer, from Vulgar Latin *dissēperō, dissēperāre, from Latin dis- + sēparō.