Contextualizebeta

asunder

adv
/əˈsʌndə/UK/əˈsʌndəɹ/US

Etymology

From Middle English asunder, asonder (“apart in position, distant; apart in movement; to pieces; alone, separately; distinct in kind, different”), asondri (“distinct, separate”), onsunder, onsondre (“apart, asunder; alone, separately; especially, particularly (?)”), from Old English onsundrum, on sundur (“asunder, apart, privately”), probably from on- (prefix meaning ‘on, upon’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- (“on, onto”)) + sundor, sunder (“alone, apart; separately; privately”) (from Proto-West Germanic *sundr, from Proto-Germanic *sundraz (“alone, separate”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *senH- (“apart; for oneself; without”)). By surface analysis, a- (prefix meaning ‘at; in; on’ denoting a condition, manner, or state) + sunder (“(obsolete except dialectal) different; separate”). cognates * Danish sønder * Dutch zonder * Faroese sundur * German sonder * Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍂𐍉 (sundrō) * Icelandic sundur * Norwegian Bokmål sunder, sønder * Swedish sönder

  1. inherited from *senH-✻ — “apart; for oneself; without”
  2. inherited from *sundraz✻ — “alone, separate”
  3. inherited from *sundr✻
  4. inherited from *h₂en-✻ — “on, onto”
  5. inherited from onsundrum
  6. inherited from asunder

Definitions

  1. Of two or more people or things

    Of two or more people or things:

    • Page. I vvarrant you, hee's the man ſhould fight vvith him. / […] [Robert] Shal[low]. It appeares ſo by his vveapons: keep them aſunder: […]
    • Heer's a coyle to keep fire and tovv a ſunder.
    • He deſired I vvould ſtand like a Coloſſus, vvith my Legs as far aſunder as I conveniently could. He then commanded his General, […] to dravv up the Troops in cloſe Order, and march them under me; […]

  2. Into separate parts or pieces, often due to some violent action.

    • to crack asunder    torn asunder
    • And he [Judas Iscariot] hath nowe poſſeſſed a plott of grounde with the rewarde off iniquyte. And when he was hanged⸝ braſt [burst] a ſondre in the myddes⸝ and all his bowels guſſhed out.
    • The Kings of the earth ſet themſelues, and the rulers take counſell together, againſt the Lord, and againſt his Anoynted, ſaying, Let vs breake their bandes aſunder, and caſt away their cords from vs.

  3. Apart from other people

    Apart from other people; individually, separately; specifically, in private, privately.

    • [I]t vvas Employment enough for us to keep them [the prisoners] aſſunder, and ſupply them vvith Victuals.
  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. Chiefly in the form to know asunder

      Chiefly in the form to know asunder: in a manner distinguishable from other similar things.

      • Ye summond our kynge,—why dyd ye so? / […] / Know ye not suger and salt asonder? / Your sumner to saucy, to malapert, / Your harrold in armes not yet halfe experte.
      • Foure ſorts of Marle be found in this VVeald, knovvne aſunder by the difference of colours, and thereby alſo differing in degrees of goodneſſe one from the other: […]
      • Some Parts of England vvere novv infected as violently as London had been; […] It is true, vve could not pretend to forbid their People coming to London, becauſe it vvas impoſſible to knovv them aſſunder, […]

    2. Different, unlike.

      • Moth[er]: I cannot blame thee. / But it greeues thee more that Villaine liues. / Iul[iet]: VVhat Villaine Madame? / Moth: That Villaine Romeo. / Iul: Villaine and he are manie miles a ſunder.

    3. To set apart (one or more people or things) from other people or things

      To set apart (one or more people or things) from other people or things; to put asunder, to separate, to sunder.

      • A plough beetle, ploughſtaff, to further the plough, / great clod to a ſunder that breaketh ſo rough: […]
      • Thou could not be perſvvaded that my vvittes / Could once retire ſo farre from ſence aſondred, […]

The neighborhood

Derived

asunderness, put asunder

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at asunder. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01asunder02separately03separate04disunite05sever06parted

A definitional loop anchored at asunder. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

6 hops · closes at asunder

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA