Divorce
/dɪˈvɔːrs/noun
The legal ending of a marriage.
Did you know?The word comes from Latin *divortere*/*divertere*, “to turn aside,” built from *dis-* “apart” + *vertere* “to turn,” so the original idea was not romance ending, but a decisive turning away.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*wer-
“to turn, bend”
Latin
Latin
vertere
“to turn”
Latin
Latin
divertere
“to turn aside, go apart”
Old French
OF
divorce
“separation, dissolution of marriage”
Middle English
ME
divorcen
“to separate legally; annul a marriage”
Modern English
English
divorce
“the legal ending of a marriage”