Scindere

Scindere is a Latin verb meaning to split, cleave, tear apart, or divide. It can refer to physical division, such as splitting wood or rock, as well as to figurative separations, like breaking a bond, a party, or a unity. In classical Latin usage, the verb is transitive and often appears with a direct object in the accusative, while the passive forms describe the thing being split or divided.

The verb belongs to the third conjugation. Its principal parts are scindo, scindere, scidi, scissum. From these forms, all other tenses and voices are built, for example scindebam (“I was splitting”) or scindet (“he will split”). The passive participle scissus yields related adjectives and nouns, and the noun scissio denotes the act or result of cutting or splitting.

Derived forms and related terms include scissus (past participle, “having been split”), and the noun scissio (the act of cutting or splitting). In English, derivatives such as scission and scissile trace their lineage to this Latin root, reflecting both the act of division and the property of being divisible. The term also appears in historical and philological discussions to describe splitting phenomena in texts, materials, or ideas.

In summary, scindere is a classical Latin verb for division and tearing apart, with a well-established set of principal parts, productive derivative forms, and a legacy in related English terms that express cutting, division, and the capacity to be split.