Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - divide

 I. verb  (~d; dividing)  Etymology: Middle English, from Latin ~re, from dis- + -videre to separate — more at widow  Date: 14th century  transitive verb  1.  a. to separate into two or more parts, areas, or groups ~ the city into wards  b. to separate into classes, categories, or divisions ~ history into epochs  c. cleave, part a ship dividing the waves  2.  a. to separate into portions and give out in shares ; distribute ~ profits  b. to possess, enjoy, or make use of in common ~ the blame  c. apportion ~s her time between the office and home  3.  a. to cause to be separate, distinct, or apart from one another fields ~d by stone walls  b. to separate into opposing sides or parties the issues that ~ us  c. to cause (a parliamentary body) to vote by division  4.  a. to subject (a number or quantity) to the operation of finding how many times it contains another number or quantity ~ 42 by 14  b. to be used as a divisor with respect to (a ~nd) 4 ~s 16 evenly  c. to use as a divisor — used with into ~ 14 into 42  intransitive verb  1. to perform mathematical division  2.  a.  (1) to undergo replication, multiplication, fission, or separation into parts  (2) to branch out  b. to become separated or disunited especially in opinion or interest  Synonyms: see separate, distribute  • dividable adjective  II. noun  Date: 1642  1. an act of dividing  2.  a. a dividing ridge between drainage areas  b. a point or line of division or disagreement