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You may suspect that a connection exists between "scission" and "scissors," but, actually, their etymologies are sharply divided. "Scission" traces to the Latin verb scindere ("to split" or "to cut"). "Scissors," on the other hand, comes from an entirely separate Latin verb that also means "to cut" - "caedere." The Middle English word for the cutting instrument was "cisours" or "sisoures," which comes from Middle French cisoires. An "sc" spelling appeared only in the 16th century when, apparently, the word for the cutting instrument was mistakenly taken to have derived, like "scission," from "scindere."
Examples of scission in a Sentence
William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 6 May 2022
When the nucleus ultimately disintegrates, these pieces move apart rapidly and the neck snaps quickly, a process known as scission.
—Charles Q. Choi, Scientific American, 24 Feb. 2021
Wilson cautions more work is needed to explain how exactly spin results after scission.
—Charles Q. Choi, Scientific American, 24 Feb. 2021
The structure is easily broken down in a reaction called scission (like scissors), which tears up the polymer chain.
—Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 5 Aug. 2020
Using IVs that are sanitized between trees, park service workers make a minimally invasive scission in order to treat the tree, according to Jason Gillis, park arborist for National Mall and Memorial Parks.
—Paulina Smolinski, USA TODAY, 19 Aug. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Scission.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scission. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
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scission
noun
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