Definition of schism
1 : division, separation; also : discord, disharmony a schism between political parties
2a : formal division in or separation from a church or religious bodyb : the offense of promoting schism
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Examples of schism in a Sentence
a schism between leading members of the party
The church was divided by schism.
Recent Examples of schism from the Web
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The deepest Democratic schisms involve whether to focus on liberal social issues or the economic struggles of blue-collar and middle-class Americans.
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The mayor’s request comes amid a national debate about free speech that has created a deep schism mostly along partisan lines.
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The schism between the Palestinian Authority, which is based in the West Bank, and Hamas, the Islamic militant group that seized control of Gaza in 2007, has left Palestinians deeply divided.
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More than brutal competition, in his personal relationships, money seemed to be at the root of several schisms.
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Lojban uses the same grammar as Loglan but a completely separate vocabulary; the schism came in 1986 when James Cooke Brown, the creator of Loglan, tried to assert his copyright.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'schism'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of schism
Middle English scisme, from Anglo-French scisme, cisme, from Late Latin schismat-, schisma, from Greek, cleft, division, from schizein to split — more at shed
SCHISM Defined for English Language Learners
schism
playDefinition of schism for English Language Learners
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: a division among the members of a group that occurs because they disagree on something
Learn More about schism
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See words that rhyme with schism Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for schism Spanish Central: Translation of schism Nglish: Translation of schism for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of schism for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about schism
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