Standard Lemma guide

secession

noun · 4 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.

  • /səˈsɛʃən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S IH0 S EH1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of seceding.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • That year, secession was enacted on account of unreasonable policies.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: armed secession, secession war, war of secession

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

formal separation from an alliance or federation

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: withdrawal

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: separation

Narrower terms: breakaway, breaking away

3

noun

Meaning 3

the withdrawal of eleven southern states from the Union in 1860 which precipitated the American Civil War

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: separation

4

noun

Meaning 4

an Austrian school of art and architecture parallel to the French art nouveau in the 1890s

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sezession

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: school, artistic movement, art movement

History

Etymology

From Latin sēcessiō (“a withdrawing”).

Across languages

Translations

73 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: إِنْشِقَاق (ʔinšiqāq) — The act of seceding
  • Armenian: սեցեսիա (secʻesia) — The act of seceding
  • Armenian: անջատում (anǰatum) — The act of seceding
  • Azerbaijani: ayrılma — The act of seceding
  • Belarusian: аддзяле́нне (addzjaljénnje) — The act of seceding
  • Belarusian: сэцэ́сія (secésija) — The act of seceding
  • Bulgarian: отцепване (otcepvane) — The act of seceding
  • Bulgarian: сеце́сия (secésija) — The act of seceding
  • Catalan: secessió — The act of seceding
  • Chinese Mandarin: 脫離 /脱离 (tuōlí) — The act of seceding
  • Chinese Mandarin: 退出 (tuìchū) — The act of seceding
  • Czech: secese — The act of seceding
  • Czech: odtržení — The act of seceding
  • Czech: odtržení se — The act of seceding
  • Czech: oddělení — The act of seceding
  • Czech: oddělení se — The act of seceding
  • Czech: odloučení — The act of seceding
  • Danish: løsrivelse — The act of seceding
  • Dutch: afscheiding — The act of seceding
  • Dutch: afscheiden — The act of seceding
  • Dutch: secessie — The act of seceding
  • Dutch: separatie — The act of seceding
  • Esperanto: secesio — The act of seceding
  • Estonian: setsessioon — The act of seceding
  • Estonian: eraldumine — The act of seceding
  • Finnish: ero — The act of seceding
  • Finnish: eroaminen — The act of seceding
  • French: sécession — The act of seceding
  • Galician: secesión — The act of seceding
  • Georgian: გამოყოფა (gamoq̇opa) — The act of seceding
  • Georgian: გადადება (gadadeba) — The act of seceding
  • German: Sezession — The act of seceding
  • German: Abspaltung — The act of seceding
  • Greek: απόσχιση (apóschisi) — The act of seceding
  • Hindi: अपगमन (apagman) — The act of seceding
  • Hungarian: kiválás — The act of seceding
  • Hungarian: elszakadás — The act of seceding
  • Hungarian: függetlenedés — The act of seceding
  • Italian: secessione — The act of seceding
  • Japanese: 脱退 (dattai) — The act of seceding
  • Japanese: 離脱 (ritatsu) — The act of seceding
  • Khmer: អបគមន៍ (a’pa’ kɔɔm) — The act of seceding
  • Korean: 탈퇴 (taltoe) — The act of seceding
  • Korean: 이탈 (ital) — The act of seceding
  • Korean: 리탈 (rital) — The act of seceding
  • Latin: sēcessiō — The act of seceding
  • Latvian: secesija — The act of seceding
  • Macedonian: сецесија (secesija) — The act of seceding
  • Māori: tūrangahapa — The act of seceding
  • Norwegian Bokmål: løsrivelse — The act of seceding
  • Occitan: secession — The act of seceding
  • Persian: تجزیهطلبی (tajziye-talabi) — The act of seceding
  • Persian: جداییخواهی (jodâ-ye-xâhi) — The act of seceding
  • Polish: secesja — The act of seceding
  • Portuguese: secessão — The act of seceding
  • Romanian: secesiune — The act of seceding
  • Russian: отделе́ние (otdelénije) — The act of seceding
  • Russian: сеце́ссия (secéssija) — The act of seceding
  • Serbo-Croatian: сецѐсија — The act of seceding
  • Serbo-Croatian: secèsija — The act of seceding
  • Slovak: secesia — The act of seceding
  • Slovene: secessija — The act of seceding
  • Spanish: secesión — The act of seceding
  • Swedish: utträde — The act of seceding
  • Swedish: utbrytning — The act of seceding
  • Swedish: secession — The act of seceding
  • Tajik: ҷудошавӣ (judošavi) — The act of seceding
  • Telugu: వేర్పాటు (vērpāṭu) — The act of seceding
  • Turkish: ayrılma — The act of seceding
  • Ukrainian: відді́лення (viddílennja) — The act of seceding
  • Ukrainian: сеце́сія (secésija) — The act of seceding
  • Vietnamese: sự ra khỏi — The act of seceding
  • Vietnamese: sự ly khai — The act of seceding
Real reading context

secession in complete knowledge articles