\Di*vi"sion\, n. [F. division, L. divisio, from
dividere. See {Divide}.]
1. The act or process of diving anything into parts, or the
   state of being so divided; separation.
         I was overlooked in the division of the spoil.
                                               --Gibbon.
2. That which divides or keeps apart; a partition.
3. The portion separated by the divining of a mass or body; a
   distinct segment or section.
         Communities and divisions of men.     --Addison.
4. Disunion; difference in opinion or feeling; discord;
   variance; alienation.
         There was a division among the people. --John vii.
                                               43.
5. Difference of condition; state of distinction;
   distinction; contrast. --Chaucer.
         I will put a division between my people and thy
         people.                               --Ex. viii.
                                               23.
6. Separation of the members of a deliberative body, esp. of
   the Houses of Parliament, to ascertain the vote.
         The motion passed without a division. --Macaulay.
7. (Math.) The process of finding how many times one number
   or quantity is contained in another; the reverse of
   multiplication; also, the rule by which the operation is
   performed.
8. (Logic) The separation of a genus into its constituent
   species.
9. (Mil.)
   (a) Two or more brigades under the command of a general
       officer.
   (b) Two companies of infantry maneuvering as one
       subdivision of a battalion.
   (c) One of the larger districts into which a country is
       divided for administering military affairs.
10. (Naut.) One of the groups into which a fleet is divided.
11. (Mus.) A course of notes so running into each other as to
    form one series or chain, to be sung in one breath to one
    syllable.
12. (Rhet.) The distribution of a discourse into parts; a
    part so distinguished.
13. (Biol.) A grade or rank in classification; a portion of a
    tribe or of a class; or, in some recent authorities,
    equivalent to a subkingdom.
{Cell division} (Biol.), a method of cell increase, in which
   new cells are formed by the division of the parent cell.
   In this process, the cell nucleus undergoes peculiar
   differentiations and changes, as shown in the figure (see
   also {Karyokinesis}). At the same time the protoplasm of
   the cell becomes gradually constricted by a furrow
   transverse to the long axis of the nuclear spindle,
   followed, on the completion of the division of the
   nucleus, by a separation of the cell contents into two
   masses, called the daughter cells.
{Long division} (Math.), the process of division when the
   operations are mostly written down.
{Short division} (Math.), the process of division when the
   operations are mentally performed and only the results
   written down; -- used principally when the divisor is not
   greater than ten or twelve.
Syn: compartment; section; share; allotment; distribution;
     separation; partition; disjunction; disconnection;
     difference; variance; discord; disunion.