cleavage

English

Wikipedia ^en

Etymology

From cleave +‎ -age.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkliːvɪdʒ/

Noun

cleavage ‎(plural cleavages)

Cleavage between breasts

1. The act of cleaving or the state of being cleft. [from 19th c.]
2. (mineralogy) The tendency of a crystal to split along specific planes. [from 19th c.]
3. (biology) The repeated division of a cell into daughter cells after mitosis. [from 19th c.]
4. The hollow or separation between a woman's breasts, especially as revealed by a low neckline. [from 20th c.]
   • 1946, "Cinema: Cleavage and the Code", Time, 5 Aug 1946:

     Low-cut Restoration costumes worn by the Misses Lockwood and Roc (see cut) display too much "cleavage" (Johnston Office trade term for the shadowed depression dividing an actress' bosom into two distinct sections).

5. (by extension) Any similar separation between two body parts.
6. (chemistry) The splitting of a large molecule into smaller ones.
7. (politics) The division of voters into voting blocs.

Related terms

• cleave
• cleft

Synonyms

• (separation between breasts): intermammary sulcus

Translations

the act of cleaving or the state of being cleft

• Bulgarian: разцепване (bg) ‎(razcepvane), разцепление (bg) n ‎(razceplenie)
• Czech: rozpolcení n, rozdělení n
• Dutch: splijten (nl) n
• French: clivage (fr) m
• German: Kluft (de) f, Teilung (de) f
• Greek: σχίσιμο (el) n ‎(schísimo)

• Italian: clivaggio m
• Japanese: 切開 ‎(sekkai), 分割 (ja) ‎(bunkatsu), 亀裂 ‎(kiretsu)
• Macedonian: раскол m ‎(ráskol), расцеп m ‎(ráscep)
• Portuguese: rachamento m, rachadura (pt) f
• Russian: раско́л (ru) m ‎(raskól), расщепле́ние (ru) n ‎(rasščeplénije)
• Swedish: klyvning

mineralogy: tendency of a crystal

• Bulgarian: цепимост f ‎(cepimost)
• Czech: štěpnost f
• French: clivage (fr) m
• German: Spaltneigung f, Schieferung f
• Italian: sfaldatura f

• Japanese: 劈開 ‎(hekikai)
• Polish: łupliwość f
• Portuguese: clivagem (pt) f
• Spanish: exfoliación (es) f

biology: cell division

• Bulgarian: деление (bg) n ‎(delenie)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 卵裂 (zh) ‎(luǎnliè)

• Dutch: deling (nl) f
• Finnish: solun jakautuminen
• French: division (fr) f
• German: Furchung f, Zellteilung (de) f, Teilung (de) f

• Hungarian: sejtosztódás (hu)
• Italian: segmentazione (it) f
• Japanese: 卵割 ‎(rankatsu)
• Macedonian: делба f ‎(délba)
• Portuguese: clivagem (pt) f
• Russian: деле́ние (ru) n ‎(delénije)
• Spanish: división (es) f

separation between breasts

• Bulgarian: цепка (bg) f ‎(cépka)
• Catalan: escot m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 乳溝 (zh), 乳沟 ‎(rǔgōu)

• Czech: rýha mezi ňadry f
• Danish: kløft c, kavalergang c
• Dutch: décolleté m
• Finnish: rintojen väli, dekoltee
• French: décolleté (fr) m
• German: Dekolletee (de) n, Dekolleté (de) n

• Hungarian: dekoltázs (hu)
• Italian: décolleté (it) m, scollatura (it) f, incavo (it) m
• Japanese: 谷間 ‎(たにま, tanima), 胸の谷間 ‎(むねのたにま, mune-no tanima)
• Macedonian: деколте n ‎(dekolté)
• Persian: چاک پستان ‎(čâk pestân)
• Portuguese: decote (pt) m, decotes m pl
• Russian: ложби́нка (ru) f ‎(ložbínka), ме́жду груде́й ‎(méždu grudéj)
• Spanish: canalillo m
• Swedish: klyfta (sv) c

chemistry: the splitting of a large molecule into smaller ones

• Czech: štěpení n
• French: clivage (fr) m
• German: Spaltung (de) f

• Italian: scissione (it) f
• Japanese: 開裂 ‎(kairetsu)
• Portuguese: clivagem (pt) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 분열 (ko) ‎(bunyeol)

See also

• décolletage
• spathic
• Wikipedia:Cleavage