schism

noun

ˈsi-zəm 

ˈski-,

 also  ˈshi-;

among clergy usually

ˈsi- 

1

: division, separation

also : discord, disharmony

a schism between political parties

2

a

: formal division in or separation from a church or religious body

b

: the offense of promoting schism

Synonyms

• conflict
• disaccord
• discord
• discordance
• discordancy
• disharmony
• dissension
• dissention
• dissent
• dissidence
• dissonance
• disunion
• disunity
• division
• friction
• infighting
• inharmony
• strife
• variance
• war
• warfare

Examples of schism in a Sentence

a schism between leading members of the party

The church was divided by schism.

Recent Examples on the Web

Photograph by Scott Olson / Getty Already, the schism between young American Jews and Israel is widening. —Ruth Margalit, The New Yorker, 9 May 2024

Republicans are looking to exploit the schism that has developed within the Democratic Party over the war in Gaza by pinning the campus unrest on Biden and the progressive left. —Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY, 7 May 2024

That schism was on display in February after Mr. Macron first mentioned the possibility of putting Western troops in Ukraine. —Anton Troianovski, New York Times, 6 May 2024

What was planned as a team-building exercise instead deepens the schisms among the co-workers at a financial investment company. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 May 2024

When the coders can’t get along, a group of them will split off and create a new network, a schism known as a hard fork. —Steven Ehrlich, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024

Lambert is indicative of a growing schism in the community. —Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024

Bryan Anselm—Redux Hak Ja Han’s consolidation of power created a schism that tore apart friendships, marriages, and families. —TIME, 4 Apr. 2024

The half-hour tracks Abed and the group's rise to power, the eventual schism with Jeff (who hates not being in control), and the hubris that leads to their downfall, while also telling a touching story about Abed's desire to fit in. —Chancellor Agard, EW.com, 6 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English scisme, sisme, cisme "division in the church, dissension in belief, civil strife," borrowed from Anglo-French scisme, borrowed from Late Latin scisma, schisma "division of opinion, dissension in the church," borrowed from Greek schismat-, schísma "cleft, division, (New Testament) division of opinion," from schid-, stem of schízein "to split, separate" + -smat-, -sma, resultative noun suffix — more at shed entry 1

Note: As the spellings suggest, the Middle English and early Modern English pronunciation of this word was with initial [s] rather than [sk]. Hellenized spellings with initial sch- became general in the seventeenth century, though the old pronunciation with initial [s] has persisted until recently.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

schism

noun

ˈsiz-əm  ˈskiz- 

1

a

: division sense 6, separation

b

: lack of harmony : discord

2

a

: division in or separation from a church or religious body

b

: the offense of promoting schism