secession

noun

se·​ces·​sion si-ˈse-shən 

1

: withdrawal into privacy or solitude : retirement

2

: formal withdrawal from an organization

Examples of secession in a Sentence

the secession of the Southern states

Recent Examples on the Web

In the new YouGov poll, 29% of Californians supported secession, almost identical to the portion of Alaskans and Texans who would like independence for their states. —Thomas Elias, The Mercury News, 5 Apr. 2024

At the Stockton temple, these developments have only fueled the drive for secession. —Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2024

Serbian forces were massing along the length of their country’s border with Kosovo, where NATO has kept an uneasy peace since a bloody war of secession in 1999. —TIME, 29 Feb. 2024

Similar secession efforts infamously led to the Civil War. —Nicholas Kerr, ABC News, 31 Jan. 2024

With the city quietened, Beijing passed the national security law, introducing four vague new crimes — secession, subversion, colluding with foreign forces and terrorism. —Shibani Mahtani, Washington Post, 17 Dec. 2023

First elected to the Senate, from Mississippi, in 1848, Davis believed in slavery, states’ rights, and secession, three ideas in one. —Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, 4 Dec. 2023

According to Nicoletti, the worry that an acquittal would have established the constitutionality of secession meant that interest in prosecuting Davis simply evaporated. —Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, 4 Dec. 2023

Opponents of secession won a referendum in 2014, but Scots turned against Labour in favor of the pro-independence Scottish National Party. —Alan Cowell, New York Times, 30 Nov. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Latin secession-, secessio, from secedere

First Known Use

1604, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

secession

noun

se·​ces·​sion si-ˈsesh-ən 

: the act of seceding