asunder

English

Alternative forms

• asundre (obsolete)

Etymology

Originally two words; from Old English on (“a (preposition)”) sundran (“separate position”), from Proto-Germanic *sunder, *sundraz. Cognate with Danish sønder, Swedish sönder, Dutch zonder, German sonder, Icelandic sundur, Faroese sundur and Norwegian sunder/sønder; akin to Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍂𐍉 (sundrō).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈsʌndə/
• enPR: ə-sŭnʹdər, IPA^(key): /əˈsʌndɚ/
• Rhymes: -ʌndə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: asun‧der

Adverb

asunder (comparative more asunder, superlative most asunder)

1. Into separate parts or pieces; apart.

   Lest anyone find her treasure, she tore the map asunder and cast its pieces into the wind.

   • 1866, Charles Dickens, The Signal-Man‎^[1]:

     On both of those occasions, he came back to the fire with the inexplicable air upon him which I had remarked, without being able to define, when we were so far asunder.

   • 1985, Kate Bush, Running Up That Hill

     You don't want to hurt me, but see how deep the bullet lies. Unaware that I'm tearing you asunder. There is thunder in our hearts.

Synonyms

• apart, in twain; see also Thesaurus:asunder

Derived terms

• put asunder

Translations

into separate parts

• Arabic: إِرْباً (ʔirban)
• Bulgarian: на парчета (na parčeta), на части (na časti)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 四分五裂 (zh) (sìfēnwǔliè)

• Czech: na kusy
• Dutch: uiteen (nl), uit elkaar
• Finnish: hajalle (fi), kahtia
• French: en morceaux
• German: in Stücke, entzwei (de), auseinander (de)
• Interlingue: , ,
• Italian: in pezzi
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: ばらばらに (ja) (barabara ni)
• Occitan: en tròces m pl
• Polish: na kawałki
• Portuguese: em pedaços
• Russian: на ча́сти (na části), на куски́ (na kuskí)
• Scottish Gaelic: air leth
• Spanish: en dos, en pedazos
• Swedish: sönder (sv)
• Turkish: ayrı ayrı (tr), parça (tr)

Anagrams

• Urendas, asundre, dauners, enduras, unreads