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

• discord
• strife
• friction
• conflict
• dissention
• war
• discordance
• discordancy
• dissent
• 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

The Epstein controversy has created a schism between President Donald Trump and his MAGA base. —Sudiksha Kochi, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2025

There remains a wide schism between customer data availability and leveraging customer information to deliver meaningful financial guidance. —Jody Bhagat, Forbes.com, 25 July 2025

Outlining the extremism of this schism, Kürti points to Divízió 88 (Division 88), an anonymous neo-Nazi skinhead group founded in 2003 that folds racist, hateful lyrics into its rock and roll. —Danielle Han, JSTOR Daily, 22 June 2025

There have also been various schisms within the Anglican communion in recent years. —Dennis Doyle, The Conversation, 8 May 2025

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

Rhymes for schism

• abolitionism
• aldosteronism
• americanism
• anticommunism
• antisemitism
• antiterrorism
• bioterrorism
• colloquialism
• colonialism
• consequentialism
• contextualism
• conventionalism

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