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divorce

Syllabification: (di·vorce)
Pronunciation: /diˈvôrs/
Translate divorce | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of divorce

noun

  • the legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body:her divorce from her first husband one in three marriages ends in divorce [as modifier]:divorce proceedings
  • a legal decree dissolving a marriage.
  • [in singular] a separation between things that were or ought to be connected:the bitter divorce between the company and its largest shareholder

verb

[with object]
  • legally dissolve one’s marriage with (someone):he divorced his first wife after 10 months (as adjective divorced)a divorced couple [no object]:they divorced eight years later
  • separate or dissociate (something) from something else:we knew how to divorce an issue from an individual
  • (divorce oneself from) distance or dissociate oneself from (something):he wanted to divorce himself from all contact with the syndicate

Derivatives

divorcement

noun

Origin:

late Middle English: the noun from Old French divorce, from Latin divortium, based on divertere (see divert); the verb from Old French divorcer, from late Latin divortiare, from divortium

divorce in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of divorce in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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