divorce

See also: divorcé

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

divorce

Etymology

Derived from Old French divorce, from Latin dīvortium, from dīvertere (“to turn aside”), from dī- (“apart”) + vertere (“to turn”); see verse.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪˈvɔːs/, (without the horse–hoarse merger) /-voəs/
- Audio (Southern England): (file)
(Canada, US) IPA^(key): /dɪˈvoɹs/, (without the horse–hoarse merger) /-vo(ː)ɹs/
Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)s

Noun

divorce (countable and uncountable, plural divorces)

The legal dissolution of a marriage.
Richard obtained a divorce from his wife some years ago, but hasn't returned to the dating scene.
- 1999 February 3, Anthony Horowitz et al., “Strangler's Wood”, in Midsomer Murders:
  Kate Merrill: Do you ever regret it, Liz?
  Liz Frances: The divorce? Not as much as I regret the marriage.
A separation of connected things.
The Civil War split between Virginia and West Virginia was a divorce based along cultural and economic as well as geographic lines.
- 2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian‎^[1], archived from the original on 13 October 2026:
  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
- c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V, act 5, scene 2:
  To make divorce of their incorporate league
(zoology) The separation of a bonded pair of animals.
(obsolete) That which separates.
- c. 1613, William Shakespeare, John Fletcher, Henry VIII, act 2, scene 1:
  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.

Synonyms

(legal dissolution of a marriage): divorcement
(separation of connected things): partition, separation, severance

Antonyms

marriage

Derived terms

Translations

legal dissolution of a marriage

Afrikaans: egskeiding (af)
Albanian: divorc (sq) m, shkurorëzim (sq) m
Arabic: طَلَاق m (ṭalāq), تَطْلِيق m (taṭlīq), خُلْع m (ḵulʕ) (specific type)
Hijazi Arabic: طلاق m (ṭalāg)
Aramaic:
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܕܘܼܠܵܠܵܐ m (dulālā)
Armenian: ամուսնալուծություն (hy) (amusnalucutʻyun), ապահարզան (hy) (apaharzan)
Assamese: বিবাহ বিচ্ছেদ (bibah bissed)
Asturian: divorciu m
Azerbaijani: boşanma
Belarusian: разво́д m (razvód)
Bengali: বিবাহবিচ্ছেদ (bn) (bibahobicched)
Bulgarian: разво́д (bg) m (razvód), бракоразво́д m (brakorazvód)
Burmese: ကွာရှင်းခြင်း (kwahrang:hkrang:), ကွာရှင်းပြတ်စဲခြင်း (kwahrang:pratcai:hkrang:)
Catalan: divorci (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 離婚 / 离婚 (lei⁴ fan¹)

Mandarin: 離婚 / 离婚 (zh) (líhūn)
Comorian:
Ngazidja Comorian: twalaka class 9/10
Czech: rozvod (cs) m
Danish: skilsmisse (da) c
Dutch: echtscheiding (nl) f
Esperanto: divorco, eksgeedziĝo
Estonian: abielulahutus (et), lahutus
Faroese: hjúnaskilnaður m
Finnish: avioero (fi)
French: divorce (fr) m
Galician: divorcio (gl) m
Georgian: გაყრა (gaq̇ra), განქორწინება (gankorc̣ineba)
German: Scheidung (de) f, Ehescheidung (de) f
Gothic: 𐌰𐍆𐍃𐍄𐌰𐍃𐍃 f (afstass)
Greek: διαζύγιο (el) n (diazýgio)
Ancient Greek: ἀποστάσιον n (apostásion)
Gujarati: તલાક (gu) (talāk), છૂટાછેડા (chūṭācheḍā), ડિવોર્સ (ḍivors)
Hebrew: גירושין \ גֵּרוּשִׁין m pl (geirushin)
Hindi: तलाक़ f (talāq), तलाक (hi) f (talāk), त्याग (hi) m (tyāg), स्त्रीपुरुषविच्छेद m (strīpuruṣvicched), विवाहविच्छेद m (vivāhvicched), विच्छेदन (hi) m (vicchedan)
Hungarian: válás (hu)
Icelandic: skilnaður m, hjónaskilnaður m
Ido: divorco (io), desmariajo
Indonesian: perceraian (id)
Irish: colscaradh (ga) m, idirscaradh m
Italian: divorzio (it) m
Japanese: 離婚 (ja) (りこん, rikon)
Kannada: ವಿಚ್ಛೇದನ (kn) (vicchēdana)
Kazakh: ажырасу (ajırasuw), айырылысу (ayırılısuw), талақ (talaq) (Islam)
Khmer: ការលែងលះ (kaa lɛɛng lĕəh)
Korean: 이혼(離婚) (ko) (ihon), 리혼(離婚) (ko) (rihon) (North Korea)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: تەلاق (telaq)

Northern Kurdish: telaq (ku)
Kyrgyz: ажырашуу (ky) (ajıraşuu), талак (ky) (talak) (Islam)
Lao: ການຢ່າ (kān yā), ການຢ່າຮ້າງ (kān yā hāng)
Latin: dīvortium n, discidium n, diversiō f
Latvian: šķiršanās f pl
Lithuanian: skyrybos f pl, ištuoka f
Luxembourgish: Scheedung f
Macedonian: развод m (razvod)
Malay: perceraian
Malayalam: വിവാഹമോചനം (ml) (vivāhamōcanaṁ)
Maltese: divorzju m
Marathi: घटस्फोट m (ghaṭasphoṭ), काडीमोड m (kāḍīmoḍ), वेगळे होणे n (vegḷe hoṇe)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: салалт (mn) (salalt)
Navajo: ałtsʼááʼítʼaash
Norwegian:
Bokmål: skilsmisse (no) m

Nynorsk: skilsmisse f
Occitan: divòrci (oc) m
Odia: ଛାଡ଼ପତ୍ର (or) (chāṛapatra), ବିବାହ ବିଚ୍ଛେଦ (bibāha biccheda)
Old English: āsyndrung m, hīwgedāl n
Pannonian Rusyn: розвод m (rozvod)
Pashto: پرېژه (ps) f (preža), طلاق (ps) m (talāq)
Persian:
Dari: طَلَاق (fa) (talāq)

Iranian Persian: طَلاق (fa) (talâġ)
Plautdietsch: Ehescheiden n, Scheedunk f
Polish: rozwód (pl) m
Portuguese: divórcio (pt) m, separação (pt) f
Romanian: divorț (ro) n, despărțire (ro) f
Russian: разво́д (ru) m (razvód), расторже́ние бра́ка n (rastoržénije bráka) (formal)
Sanskrit: विच्छेदन (sa) n (vicchedana), त्याग (sa) m (tyāga), स्त्रीपुरुषविच्छेद m (strīpuruṣaviccheda), विवाहविच्छेद m (vivāhaviccheda)
Scottish Gaelic: sgaradh-pòsaidh m, eadar-ghearradh m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ра́звод m, бракора́звод m, ра̑става f

Latin: rázvod (sh) m, brakorázvod (sh) m, rȃstava (sh) f
Sinhalese: දික්කසාදය (dikkasādaya)
Slovak: rozvod m
Slovene: ločitev f
Spanish: divorcio (es) m
Swahili: talaka (sw)
Swedish: skilsmässa (sv) c, äktenskapsskillnad (sv) c
Tagalog: diborsiyo
Tajik: талоқ (taloq)
Tamil: மணவிலக்கு (ta) (maṇavilakku), விவாகரத்து (ta) (vivākarattu), திருமண முறிவு (tirumaṇa muṟivu), மணமுறிவு (ta) (maṇamuṟivu)
Tarifit: uruf
Tatar: аерылышу (ayırılışu)
Telugu: విడాకులు (te) (viḍākulu)
Tewa: thawiyeh
Thai: การหย่าร้าง (gaan-yàa-ráang), การหย่า (th) (gaan-yàa)
Tibetan: བཟའ་མི་ཁ་བྲལ (bza' mi kha bral)
Turkish: boşanma (tr)
Turkmen: aýrylyş
Ukrainian: розлу́чення n (rozlúčennja), розірва́ння шлю́бу n (rozirvánnja šljúbu), ро́звід m (rózvid), розві́д m (rozvíd)
Urdu: طَلاق f (talāq)
Uyghur: ئاجرىشىش (ajrishish), تالاق (talaq)
Uzbek: qoʻydi-chiqdi (uz), ajralish (uz), ajratish (uz), taloq (uz)
Vietnamese: ly hôn (vi) (離婚 (vi))
Volapük: matiteil (vo)
Welsh: ysgariad (cy) m, ysgariadau (cy) m pl
Yiddish: גט m (get)

separation of connected things

Armenian: անջատում (hy) (anǰatum), բաժանում (hy) (bažanum), խզում (hy) (xzum)
Bulgarian: разри́в (bg) m (razrív), разде́ляне (bg) n (razdéljane)
Catalan: divorci (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 脫離 / 脱离 (zh) (tuōlí)
Finnish: ero (fi), erottelu (fi)
Galician: divorcio (gl) m, separación (gl) f, división (gl) f
Greek: χωρισμός (el) m (chorismós), διαζύγιο (el) n (diazýgio) (metaphorically)
Hungarian: elválás (hu)
Ingrian: erahus
Macedonian: раздвојување n (razdvojuvanje), одвојување n (odvojuvanje), одделување n (oddeluvanje), раскинување n (raskinuvanje), раскин m (raskin)
Portuguese: separação (pt) f, divisão (pt) f
Romanian: despărțire (ro) f
Russian: отделе́ние (ru) n (otdelénije), разры́в (ru) m (razrýv)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ра́звод m

Latin: rázvod (sh) m
Swedish: skiljande (sv) n, skilsmässa (sv) c
Tamil: முறிவு (ta) (muṟivu)
Tibetan: ཁ་བྲལ (kha bral), ཡ་བྲལ (ya bral)

Verb

divorce (third-person singular simple present divorces, present participle divorcing, simple past and past participle divorced)

(transitive) To legally dissolve a marriage between two people.
A ship captain can marry couples, but cannot divorce them.
- 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^[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 August 2025:
  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.
(transitive) To end one's own marriage to (a person) in this way.
Lucy divorced Steve when she discovered that he had been unfaithful.
(intransitive) To obtain a legal divorce.
Edna and Simon divorced last year; he got the house, and she retained the business.
(transitive) To separate something that was connected.
The radical group voted to divorce itself from the main faction and start an independent movement.
- 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:
  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.

Synonyms

(to legally dissolve a marriage): split up
(to separate something that was connected): disassociate, disjoint, dissociate, disunite, separate

Antonyms

marry

Derived terms

Translations

legally dissolve a marriage

Afrikaans: skei (af)
Ao:
- Chungli Ao: pala
Arabic: طَلَّقَ (ṭallaqa)
Hijazi Arabic: طَلَّق (ṭallag)
Aramaic:
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܲܕܠܸܠ (madlil)
Armenian: բաժանել (hy) (bažanel), ամուսնալուծել (hy) (amusnalucel)
Asturian: divorciar
Bashkir: айырыу (ayırıw)
Bulgarian: разве́ждам (bg) impf (razvéždam), разведа́ pf (razvedá)
Burmese: ကွာရှင်း (my) (kwahrang:)
Catalan: divorciar (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 離婚 / 离婚 (lei⁴ fan¹)

Mandarin: 離婚 / 离婚 (zh) (líhūn)
Cornish: didhemedhi
Czech: rozvést (cs)
Finnish: erota (fi)
French: divorcer (fr)
Galician: divorciar (gl)
German: scheiden (de)
Greek: χωρίζω (el) (chorízo), παίρνω διαζύγιο (paírno diazýgio)
Hindi: तलाक़ देना (talāq denā), तलाक देना (talāk denā)
Hungarian: elválaszt (hu)
Ido: divorcigar (io)
Italian: divorziare (it)
Japanese: 離婚させる (ja) (rikon saseru)
Khmer: លែងលះ (lɛɛng lĕəh)
Latin: dīvertō (la)
Macedonian: разве́дува (razvéduva), се разве́дува (se razvéduva)
Māori: toko, tokorau
Navajo: ałtsʼánátʼaash
Occitan: divorciar (oc)
Portuguese: divorciar (pt)
Romanian: divorța (ro), despărți (ro)
Russian: разводи́ть (ru) impf (razvodítʹ), развести́ (ru) pf (razvestí)
Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} dealaich, ^{(please verify)} dealach-pòsaidh
Slovak: rozviesť, rozvádzať
Spanish: divorciar (es)
Swahili: -taliki (sw)
Thai: หย่า (th) (yàa)
Tibetan: བཟའ་ཟླ་ཁ་བྲལ་འགྲོ (bza' zla kha bral 'gro)
Turkish: boşamak (tr)
Ukrainian: розлуча́ти impf (rozlučáty), розлучи́ти pf (rozlučýty)
Urdu: طلاق دینا (talāq denā)
Vietnamese: ly hôn (vi), ly dị (vi)

end one's own marriage

Afrikaans: skei (af)
Arabic: أَطْلَقَ (ʔaṭlaqa)
Aramaic:
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܕܲܠܸܠ (dalil)
Armenian: բաժանվել (hy) (bažanvel)
Azerbaijani: boşanmaq (az)
Bashkir: айырылышыу (ayırılışıw)
Belarusian: разво́дзіцца impf (razvódzicca), разве́сціся pf (razvjéscisja), разжэ́ньвацца impf (razžénʹvacca), разжані́цца pf (razžanícca)
Bulgarian: разве́ждам се (bg) impf (razvéždam se), разведа́ се pf (razvedá se)
Catalan: divorciar-se (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 離婚 / 离婚 (lei⁴ fan¹)

Mandarin: 離婚 / 离婚 (zh) (líhūn), 離異 / 离异 (zh) (líyì)
Czech: rozvádět se (cs) impf, rozvést se (cs) pf
Danish: skilles
Dutch: zich scheiden (nl)
Finnish: erota (fi)
French: se divorcer (fr)
Galician: divorciarse
Georgian: განქორწინება (gankorc̣ineba)
German: sich scheiden lassen (de)
Hebrew: הִתְגָּרֵשׁ (hitgarésh)
Hindi: तलाक़ देना (talāq denā), तलाक देना (talāk denā)
Hungarian: elválik (hu), válik (hu)
Ido: divorcigar (io)
Italian: divorziarsi (it)
Japanese: 離婚する (ja) (rikon suru)
Kazakh: ажырасу (ajırasuw), айырылысу (ayırılısuw)
Khmer: លែងលះ (lɛɛng lĕəh)
Korean: 이혼하다 (ko) (ihonhada), 리혼하다 (rihonhada) (North Korea)
Kyrgyz: ажырашып кетүү (ajıraşıp ketüü)
Lao: ຢ່າ (yā), ປະ (pa)
Macedonian: раздвојува impf (razdvojuva), се раздвојува impf (se razdvojuva), се разведува impf (se razveduva)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: салах (mn) (salax), гэрлэлт цуцлах (gerlelt cuclax)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: skille seg (no)
Persian:
Iranian Persian: طَلاق دادَن (talâġ dâdan), طَلاق گِرِفْتَن (talâġ gereftan)
Polish: rozwodzić się (pl) impf, rozwieść się (pl) pf
Portuguese: divorciar-se (pt)
Romanian: divorța (ro), despărți (ro)
Russian: разводи́ться (ru) impf (razvodítʹsja), развести́сь (ru) pf (razvestísʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} dealaich, ^{(please verify)} dealach-pòsaidh
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: развести се pf

Latin: razvesti se (sh) pf
Slovak: rozvádzať sa impf, rozviesť sa pf,
Slovene: ločiti se (sl) impf or pf
Spanish: divorciarse (es)
Swahili: -taliki (sw)
Swedish: skilja sig (sv), skiljas (sv)
Tajik: талоқ додан (taloq dodan)
Tamil: விவாகரத்து செய் (vivākarattu cey), மணவிலக்கு செய் (maṇavilakku cey)
Thai: หย่า (th) (yàa)
Tibetan: བཟའ་ཟླ་ཁ་བྲལ་འགྲོ (bza' zla kha bral 'gro)
Turkish: boşanmak (tr)
Turkmen: aýrylyşmak (tk)
Ukrainian: розлуча́тися impf (rozlučátysja), розлучи́тися pf (rozlučýtysja), розво́дитися impf (rozvódytysja), розвести́ся pf (rozvestýsja)
Urdu: طَلاق دینا (talāq denā)
Uzbek: qoʻydi-chiqdi boʻlmoq, ajralishmoq (uz)
Vietnamese: ly hôn (vi), ly dị (vi)

separate something that was connected

Armenian: բաժանել (hy) (bažanel), անջատել (hy) (anǰatel)
Azerbaijani: ayırmaq (az)
Bashkir: ысҡындырыу (ısqındırıw), айырыу (ayırıw)
Bulgarian: разде́лям (bg) impf (razdéljam), разделя́ (bg) pf (razdeljá)
Catalan: divorciar (ca)
Finnish: erottaa (fi)
Galician: separar (gl)
Greek: χωρίζω (el) (chorízo)
Hungarian: elválaszt (hu), szétválaszt (hu)
Macedonian: раздвојува n (razdvojuva), одвојува n (odvojuva), одделува n (oddeluva), раскинување n (raskinuvanje)
Portuguese: separar (pt)
Romanian: despărți (ro)
Russian: отделя́ться (ru) impf (otdeljátʹsja), отдели́ться (ru) pf (otdelítʹsja)
Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} dealaich, ^{(please verify)} cuir air leth
Swedish: skilja (sv), skilja åt
Tamil: பிரி (ta) (piri)
Tibetan: ཁ་གྱེས (kha gyes)

obtain a legal divorce

Armenian: բաժանվել (hy) (bažanvel), ամուսնալուծվել (hy) (amusnalucvel)
Asturian: divorciase
Azerbaijani: boşanmaq (az)
Catalan: divorciar-se (ca)
Finnish: erota (fi)
Galician: divorciarse
German: sich scheiden lassen (de)
Hebrew: הִתְגָּרֵשׁ (hitgarésh)
Hungarian: elválik (hu)
Ido: divorcar (io)
Macedonian: разведува impf (razveduva), се разведува impf (se razveduva)
Portuguese: divorciar-se
Romanian: divorța (ro), despărți (ro)
Russian: разводи́ться (ru) impf (razvodítʹsja), развести́сь (ru) pf (razvestísʹ)
Slovak: rozvádzať sa impf, rozviesť sa pf,
Spanish: divorciarse (es)
Swahili: -taliki (sw)
Swedish: skilja sig, skiljas (sv)
Tamil: விவாகரத்து வாங்கு (vivākarattu vāṅku), மணவிலக்கு வாங்கு (maṇavilakku vāṅku)
Thai: หย่า (th) (yàa)
Tibetan: བཟའ་ཟླ་ཁ་བྲལ་འགྲོ (bza' zla kha bral 'gro)
Turkish: boşanmak (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked