Split

How to spell split

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce split

What does split mean?

1. verbTo divide something into separate parts, or to share it between people.
2. nounA division, crack, or share that results from dividing something.

Split in a sentence

• verb

  They agreed to split the dinner bill evenly between the four of them.

• noun

  There was a deep split in the leather seat after years of use.

• verb

  A sudden gust of wind can split a weak branch from the trunk.

• noun

  The two founders argued over their split of the company profits.

Where does split come from?

Language of origin: Dutch

This word arrived in English in the sixteenth century from the Dutch and Low German seafaring world, where Middle Dutch splitten meant to cleave, divide, or break apart. The sense fits its likely first English uses, which often described ships breaking up on rocks, planks being riven, or ropes parting under strain. The root belongs to a wider Germanic family connected to ideas of splintering and slitting, and you can hear that relationship in the related words splinter and slit. Over time the meaning broadened well beyond physical cleaving to cover dividing money, sharing costs, parting from a partner, and informal speed (to leave quickly). Because the spelling is short, regular, and phonetic, with no silent letters or doubled consonants, it has stayed simple and stable ever since it entered the language.

How the word is built

• split (single root; from Middle Dutch splitten, to cleave or divide)