Subdivided

How to spell subdivided

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce subdivided

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does subdivided mean?

1. verbDivided something already divided into still smaller parts or sections.

Subdivided in a sentence

• The developer subdivided the farmland into twenty residential plots.

• The report is subdivided into clearly numbered chapters and sections.

Where does subdivided come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the past form of 'subdivide', which is built from the prefix 'sub-' meaning 'under' or 'further' and the verb 'divide'. 'Divide' itself descends from the Latin dividere, which meant 'to force apart' or 'to separate', formed from the prefix 'dis-' (apart) and a root related to dividing or distributing. The 'sub-' was added in English in the 1400s to express the idea of splitting something that had already been split, that is, dividing it a second time into yet smaller parts. The spelling preserves the buried 'i' in the middle (sub-di-vid-ed) that learners tend to slur over in speech. The same dividere root also gives us 'individual' (originally 'that which cannot be divided') and 'device', which is a useful family to keep in mind when recalling the letters.

How the word is built

• sub- (under, further down)
• di- (apart)
• vid (from Latin videre/dividere: to divide, separate)
• -ed (past tense suffix)