sunder

[ suhn-der ]
See synonyms for: sundersunderedsundering on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to separate; part; divide; sever.

verb (used without object)
  1. to become separated; part.

Origin of sunder

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English sundren, Old English sundrian; cognate with German sondern, Old Norse sundra; see sundry

Other words from sunder

  • sun·der·a·ble, adjective
  • sun·der·ance, noun
  • sun·der·er, noun

Words Nearby sunder

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sunder in a sentence

  • For "smite in sunder, or wound the heads;" some word answering to the Latin conquassare.

    Aids to Reflection | Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  • With the passing of the years, many changes have occurred to sunder the friendships formed during those boylike expeditions.

    Creatures of the Night | Alfred W. Rees
  • The mountains will sunder me from my dead—my buried wife—my three brave sons, all lying in one grave, killed within a month.

    Jasper Lyle | Harriet Ward
  • But thou mayst heal it if thou wilt take thy words back, and tell me that thou wilt not sunder thee from us.

  • But thou wottest, dear lad, that whiles and again must sister sunder from brother, and even so it has to be now.

British Dictionary definitions for sunder

sunder

/ (ˈsʌndə) archaic, or literary /


verb
  1. to break or cause to break apart or in pieces

noun
  1. in sunder into pieces; apart

Origin of sunder

1
Old English sundrian; related to Old Norse sundr asunder, Gothic sundrō apart, Old High German suntar, Latin sine without

Derived forms of sunder

  • sunderable, adjective
  • sunderance, noun
  • sunderer, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012