DIVISION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does division mean? 

• DIVISION (noun)
  The noun DIVISION has 12 senses:

1. an army unit large enough to sustain combat

2. one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole

3. the act or process of dividing

4. an administrative unit in government or business

5. discord that splits a group

6. a league ranked by quality

7. (biology) a group of organisms forming a subdivision of a larger category

8. (botany) taxonomic unit of plants corresponding to a phylum

9. a unit of the United States Air Force usually comprising two or more wings

10. a group of ships of similar type

11. an arithmetic operation that is the inverse of multiplication; the quotient of two numbers is computed

12. the act of dividing or partitioning; separation by the creation of a boundary that divides or keeps apart

  Familiarity information: DIVISION used as a noun is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DIVISION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An army unit large enough to sustain combat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Context example:

two infantry divisions were held in reserve

Hypernyms ("division" is a kind of...):

army unit (a military unit that is part of an army)

Meronyms (members of "division"):

battle group (an army unit usually consisting of five companies)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "division"):

Special Forces; U. S. Army Special Forces; United States Army Special Forces (a division of the United States Army that is specially trained for guerilla fighting)

Holonyms ("division" is a member of...):

army corps; corps (an army unit usually consisting of two or more divisions and their support)

Derivation:

divisional (of or relating to a military division)

Sense 2

Meaning:

One of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

division; part; section

Context example:

the BBC's engineering division

Hypernyms ("division" is a kind of...):

concept; conception; construct (an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "division"):

frame (one of the ten divisions into which bowling is divided)

over ((cricket) the division of play during which six balls are bowled at the batsman by one player from the other team from the same end of the pitch)

quarter ((football, professional basketball) one of four divisions into which some games are divided)

period ((ice hockey) one of three divisions into which play is divided in hockey games)

half (one of two divisions into which some games or performances are divided: the two divisions are separated by an interval)

final period (the final division into which the play of a game is divided)

second period (the second division into which the play of a game is divided)

first period (the first division into which the play of a game is divided)

bout; round; turn ((sports) a division during which one team is on the offensive)

game ((tennis) a division of play during which one player serves)

frame; inning ((baseball) one of nine divisions of play during which each team has a turn at bat)

chukka; chukker ((polo) one of six divisions into which a polo match is divided)

component; constituent; element; factor; ingredient (an abstract part of something)

high point (the most enjoyable part of a given experience)

end (a final part or section)

middle (an intermediate part or section)

beginning (the first part or section of something)

Holonyms ("division" is a part of...):

whole (all of something including all its component elements or parts)

Derivation:

divisional (constituting a division or an aliquot part of the basic monetary unit)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act or process of dividing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("division" is a kind of...):

separation (the act of dividing or disconnecting)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "division"):

cleavage (the act of cleaving or splitting)

bisection (dividing into two equal parts)

quartering (dividing into four equal parts)

schism; split (division of a group into opposing factions)

cut; cutting (the act of cutting something into parts)

atomisation; atomization; fragmentation (separating something into fine particles)

branching; fork; forking; ramification (the act of branching out or dividing into branches)

dichotomisation; dichotomization (the act of dividing into two sharply different categories)

quantisation; quantization (the act of dividing into quanta or expressing in terms of quantum theory)

fractionation (separation into portions)

syllabication; syllabification (forming or dividing words into syllables)

hyphenation; word division (division of a word especially at the end of a line on a page)

cut; cutting (the division of a deck of cards before dealing)

parcellation (the division into parcels)

Derivation:

divide (separate into parts or portions)

divisional (serving to divide or marking a division)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An administrative unit in government or business

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("division" is a kind of...):

administrative body; administrative unit (a unit with administrative responsibilities)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "division"):

department; section (a specialized division of a large organization)

arm; branch; subdivision (a division of some larger or more complex organization)

Holonyms ("division" is a member of...):

business; business concern; business organisation; business organization; concern (a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it)

authorities; government; regime (the organization that is the governing authority of a political unit)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Discord that splits a group

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

division; variance

Hypernyms ("division" is a kind of...):

discord; dissension (disagreement among those expected to cooperate)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A league ranked by quality

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

class; division

Context example:

Princeton is in the NCAA Division 1-AA

Hypernyms ("division" is a kind of...):

conference; league (an association of sports teams that organizes matches for its members)

Sense 7

Meaning:

(biology) a group of organisms forming a subdivision of a larger category

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("division" is a kind of...):

biological group (a group of plants or animals)

Domain category:

biological science; biology (the science that studies living organisms)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "division"):

form division (an artificial taxonomic category for organisms of which the true relationships are obscure)

Pisces (a group of vertebrates comprising both cartilaginous and bony fishes and sometimes including the jawless vertebrates; not used technically)

Dicynodontia; division Dicynodontia (a division of Therapsida)

Cynodontia; division Cynodontia (a division of the order Therapsida from the Triassic period comprising small carnivorous tetrapod reptiles often with mammal-like teeth)

division Rhodophyta; Rhodophyta (lower plants; mostly marine and littoral eukaryotic algae)

Chlorophyta; division Chlorophyta (large division of chiefly freshwater eukaryotic algae that possess chlorophyll a and b, store food as starch, and cellulose cell walls; classes Chlorophyceae, Ulvophyceae, and Charophyceae; obviously ancestral to land plants)

division Euglenophyta; Euglenophyta (free-swimming flagellate algae)

division Phaeophyta; Phaeophyta (coextensive with class Phaeophyceae; in some classifications subsumed in the division Heterokontophyta)

Chrysophyta; division Chrysophyta (mostly freshwater eukaryotic algae having the chlorophyll masked by brown or yellow pigment; yellow-green and golden-brown algae and diatoms: Xanthophyceae, Chrysophyceae, Bacillariophyceae; some classification systems superseded or subsumed by Heterokontophyta)

division Heterokontophyta; Heterokontophyta (algae having chlorophyll a and usually c, and flagella of unequal lengths; terminology supersedes Chrysophyta in some classifications)

division Schizophyta; Schizophyta (former term for the Cyanophyta)

Cyanophyta; division Cyanophyta (prokaryotic organisms sometimes considered a class or phylum or subkingdom; coextensive with the Cyanophyceae: cyanobacteria (blue-green algae))

division Eubacteria (one-celled monerans having simple cells with rigid walls and (in motile types) flagella)

division Archaebacteria (in some classifications considered a kingdom)

Sense 8

Meaning:

(botany) taxonomic unit of plants corresponding to a phylum

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("division" is a kind of...):

phylum ((biology) the major taxonomic group of animals and plants; contains classes)

Domain category:

botany; phytology (the branch of biology that studies plants)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "division"):

Deuteromycota; Deuteromycotina; Fungi imperfecti; subdivision Deuteromycota; subdivision Deuteromycotina (large and heterogeneous form division of fungi comprising forms for which no sexually reproductive stage is known)

Lycophyta (used in some classifications for the class Lycopsida: club mosses)

Ascomycota; Ascomycotina; subdivision Ascomycota; subdivision Ascomycotina (a large subdivision of Eumycota including Hemiascomycetes and Plectomycetes and Pyrenomycetes and Discomycetes; sac fungi; in some classification systems considered a division of the kingdom Fungi)

Basidiomycota; Basidiomycotina; subdivision Basidiomycota; subdivision Basidiomycotina (comprises fungi bearing the spores on a basidium; includes Gasteromycetes (puffballs) and Tiliomycetes comprising the orders Ustilaginales (smuts) and Uredinales (rusts) and Hymenomycetes (mushrooms, toadstools, agarics and bracket fungi); in some classification systems considered a division of kingdom Fungi)

division Eumycota; Eumycota (true fungi; eukaryotic heterotrophic walled organisms; distinguished from Myxomycota (funguslike slime molds): comprises subdivisions Mastigomycotina; Zygomycotina; Ascomycotina; Basidiomycotina; Deuteromycotina (imperfect fungi))

division Lichenes; Lichenes (comprising the lichens which grow symbiotically with algae; sometimes treated as an independent group more or less coordinate with algae and fungi)

Mastigomycota; Mastigomycotina; subdivision Mastigomycota; subdivision Mastigomycotina (fungi in which the spores and gametes are motile; in some systems placed in the Phycomycetes group with the Zygomycota)

division Gymnomycota; division Myxomycota; Gymnomycota; Myxomycota (slime molds; organisms having a noncellular and multinucleate creeping vegetative phase and a propagative spore-producing stage: comprises Myxomycetes and Acrasiomycetes; in some classifications placed in the kingdom Protoctista)

subdivision Zygomycota; subdivision Zygomycotina; Zygomycota; Zygomycotina (division of fungi having sexually produced zygospores)

Cryptogamia (in former classification systems: one of two major plant divisions, including all plants that do not bear seeds: ferns, mosses, algae, fungi)

Phanerogamae (in former classification systems: one of two major plant divisions, including all seed-bearing plants; superseded by the division Spermatophyta)

division Spermatophyta; Spermatophyta (seed plants; comprises the Angiospermae (or Magnoliophyta) and Gymnospermae (or Gymnospermophyta); in some classification systems Spermatophyta is coordinate with Pteridophyta (spore producing plants having vascular tissue and roots) and Bryophyta (spore producing plants lacking vascular tissue and roots))

division Pteridophyta; Pteridophyta (containing all the vascular plants that do not bear seeds: ferns, horsetails, club mosses, and whisk ferns; in some classifications considered a subdivision of Tracheophyta)

Bryophyta; division Bryophyta (a division of nonflowering plants characterized by rhizoids rather than true roots and having little or no organized vascular tissue and showing alternation of generations between gamete-bearing forms and spore-bearing forms; comprises true mosses (Bryopsida) and liverworts (Hepaticopsida) and hornworts (Anthoceropsida))

division Tracheophyta; Tracheophyta (in former classifications: comprising plants with a vascular system including ferns and fern allies as well as seed plants)

Thallophyta (used only in former classifications: comprising what is now considered a heterogeneous assemblage of flowerless and seedless organisms: algae; bacteria; fungi; lichens)

division Protista; Protista (eukaryotic one-celled living organisms distinct from multicellular plants and animals: protozoa, slime molds, and eukaryotic algae)

Pteropsida; subdivision Pteropsida (used in former classifications to include all ferns and flowering plants and divided into the three classes Filicinae and Gymnospermae and Angiospermae)

Sense 9

Meaning:

A unit of the United States Air Force usually comprising two or more wings

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

air division; division

Hypernyms ("division" is a kind of...):

air unit (a military unit that is part of the airforce)

Meronyms (parts of "division"):

wing (a unit of military aircraft)

Sense 10

Meaning:

A group of ships of similar type

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

division; naval division

Hypernyms ("division" is a kind of...):

naval unit (a military unit that is part of a navy)

Sense 11

Meaning:

An arithmetic operation that is the inverse of multiplication; the quotient of two numbers is computed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("division" is a kind of...):

arithmetic operation (a mathematical operation involving numbers)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "division"):

long division (the operation of division in which the sequence of steps are indicated in detail)

short division (the operation of division in which the sequence of steps is performed without writing them out)

Derivation:

divide (perform a division)

Sense 12

Meaning:

The act of dividing or partitioning; separation by the creation of a boundary that divides or keeps apart

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

division; partition; partitioning; sectionalisation; sectionalization; segmentation

Hypernyms ("division" is a kind of...):

separation (the act of dividing or disconnecting)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "division"):

subdivision (the act of subdividing; division of something previously divided)

zoning (dividing an area into zones or sections reserved for different purposes such as residence and business and manufacturing etc)

septation (the division or partitioning of a cavity into parts by a septum)

Derivation:

divide (make a division or separation)

divisional (serving to divide or marking a division)

 Context examples 

My men were sent by an equal division into both the pirate ships, and my sloop new manned.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

So far I had not dared to look out, but now I gently parted the division of the curtains in front of me and peeped through.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A three-digit Numbering Plan Areas (NPAs) assigned to small divisions of the 19 North American countries included in the North American Numbering Plan.

(Area Code, NCI Thesaurus)

If you are breaking up, you will have a different discussion focused on finances and the fair division of joint property.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A type of drug that blocks cell growth by stopping mitosis (cell division).

(Antimicrotubule agent, NCI Dictionary)

An extensive study of global habitat fragmentation—the division of habitats into smaller and more isolated patches—points to major trouble for the world's ecosystems.

(Shrinking habitats have adverse effects on world ecosystems, NSF)

“The postmark is London—eastern division. Within are the very words which were upon my father’s last message: ‘K. K. K.’; and then ‘Put the papers on the sundial.’”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And in the division of it he was just.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

“There is some unfortunate division between them,” I replied.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A sub-division of the medical history classification.

(Medical History Subcategory, NCI Thesaurus)