division Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an army unit large enough to sustain combat
    • two infantry divisions were held in reserve
  2. noun one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole
    section; part.
    • the written part of the exam
    • the finance section of the company
    • the BBC's engineering division
  3. noun the act or process of dividing
  4. noun an administrative unit in government or business
  5. noun discord that splits a group
    variance.
  6. noun a league ranked by quality
    class.
    • he played baseball in class D for two years
    • Princeton is in the NCAA Division 1-AA
  7. noun (biology) a group of organisms forming a subdivision of a larger category
  8. noun (botany) taxonomic unit of plants corresponding to a phylum
  9. noun a unit of the United States Air Force usually comprising two or more wings
    air division.
  10. noun a group of ships of similar type
    naval division.
  11. noun an arithmetic operation that is the inverse of multiplication; the quotient of two numbers is computed
  12. noun the act of dividing or partitioning; separation by the creation of a boundary that divides or keeps apart
    partitioning; sectionalization; partition; segmentation; sectionalisation.

WordNet

Di*vi"sion noun
Etymology
F. division, L. divisio, from dividere. See Divide.
Definitions
  1. The act or process of diving anything into parts, or the state of being so divided; separation.
    I was overlooked in the division of the spoil. Gibbon.
  2. That which divides or keeps apart; a partition.
  3. The portion separated by the divining of a mass or body; a distinct segment or section.
    Communities and divisions of men. Addison.
  4. Disunion; difference in opinion or feeling; discord; variance; alienation.
    There was a division among the people. John vii. 43.
  5. Difference of condition; state of distinction; distinction; contrast. Chaucer.
    I will put a division between my people and thy people. Ex. viii. 23.
  6. Separation of the members of a deliberative body, esp. of the Houses of Parliament, to ascertain the vote.
    The motion passed without a division. Macaulay.
  7. (Math.) The process of finding how many times one number or quantity is contained in another; the reverse of multiplication; also, the rule by which the operation is performed.
  8. (Logic) The separation of a genus into its constituent species.
  9. (Mil.) (a) Two or more brigades under the command of a general officer. (b) Two companies of infantry maneuvering as one subdivision of a battalion. (c) One of the larger districts into which a country is divided for administering military affairs.
  10. (Naut.) One of the groups into which a fleet is divided.
  11. (Mus.) A course of notes so running into each other as to form one series or chain, to be sung in one breath to one syllable.
  12. (Rhet.) The distribution of a discourse into parts; a part so distinguished.
  13. (Biol.) A grade or rank in classification; a portion of a tribe or of a class; or, in some recent authorities, equivalent to a subkingdom. Syn. -- compartment; section; share; allotment; distribution; separation; partition; disjunction; disconnection; difference; variance; discord; disunion.

Webster 1913