Divorce Meaning
/dɪˈvɔːs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe legal dissolution of a marriage.
nounA separation of connected things.
Sentence Examples
I got word that Mary wants to divorce him.
When did you learn of Mary's divorce?
The marriage ended in divorce in 1996.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The couple decided to end their marriage and file for ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I got word that Mary wants to ____ him.
Word Origin & History
Derived from Old French divorce, from Latin dīvortium, from dīvertere (“to turn aside”), from dī- (“apart”) + vertere (“to turn”); see verse.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The great trick of online retail has been to get us to do more shopping while thinking less about it – thinking less, in particular, about how our purchases reach our homes. This divorce of a product from its voyage to us is perhaps the thing that Amazon has sold us most successfully"
— 2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian:
"To make divorce of their incorporate league"
— c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V, act 5, scene 2:
"Go with me like good angels to my end; / And as the long divorce of steel falls on me, / Make of your prayers one sweet sacrifice, / And lift my soul to heaven. Lead on, o' God's name."
— c. 1613, William Shakespeare, John Fletcher, Henry VIII, act 2, scene 1:
"As Fire Island’s reputation grew, so did the fame of its residents. In 1977, after divorcing his first wife, Calvin Klein bought one of Gifford’s beachfront homes."
— 2025 June 11, Oliver Wainwright, “‘Made for sex’: the hedonistic party palaces of New York’s Fire Island – and the blond bombshell who made them”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 Aug 2025:
"He is knight dubb'd with vnhatche'd Rapier, and on carpet conſideration, but he is a diuell in priuate brall, soules and bodies hath he diuorc'd three, and his incenſement at this moment is ſo implacable, that ſatisfaction can be none, but by pangs of death and ſepulcher: Hob, nob, is his word: giu't or take't."
— c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 269:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The couple decided to end their marriage and file for ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I got word that Mary wants to ____ him.