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

• conflict
• disaccord
• discord
• discordance
• discordancy
• disharmony
• dissension
• dissention
• dissent
• dissidence
• dissonance
• disunion
• disunity
• division
• friction
• infighting
• inharmony
• strife
• variance
• war
• 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

Thompson said that the pope has contributed to a major schism among Catholics, with more conservative members dismissing his progressive stances on LGBTQ rights and the environment and more liberal members calling him out for not shifting the church's stance on reproductive rights. —Ivan Pereira, ABC News, 27 Oct. 2024

In New York, the schism between boss Chickie and underboss Vince widens. —Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 27 Oct. 2024

Flashback: The schism between a CEO's politics and those in the ranks below arguably led to trouble for Disney a few years ago. —Emily Peck, Axios, 22 Oct. 2024

But given the schisms in society, most everything else is better decided at the state — not the federal — level. —Stephen Moore, Orange County Register, 6 Oct. 2024

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

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