English

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

From Middle English asunder, asondre, onsunder, on sondre, from Old English asundran, onsundrum (asunder, apart, privately), from Proto-Germanic *sunder, *sundraz. Equivalent to a- +‎ sunder. Cognate with Danish sønder, Swedish sönder, Dutch zonder, German sonder, Icelandic sundur, Faroese sundur and Norwegian sunder/sønder; akin to Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍂𐍉 (sundrō).

Pronunciation

edit

Adverb

edit

asunder (comparative more asunder, superlative most asunder)

  1. (archaic, literary) Into separate parts or pieces.
    Synonyms: apart, in twain
    to tear asunder
    • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
      Page. I warrant you, he’s the man should fight with him.
      Robert Shallow. [] It appears so by his weapons. Keep them asunder:
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, [] (King James Version), London: [] Robert Barker, [], →OCLC, Psalms 2:3:
      Let vs breake their bandes asunder, and cast away their cords from vs.
    • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. [] [Gulliver’s Travels], London: [] Benj[amin] Motte, [], →OCLC, (please specify |part=I to IV), page 57:
      He desired I would stand like a Colossus, with my Legs as far asunder as I conveniently could.
    • 1866, Charles Dickens, “The Signal-Man”, in All the Year Round:
      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 (lyrics and music), “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
    • 2024 July 11, Theodore Schleifer, Jacob Bernstein, Reid J. Epstein, “How Biden Lost George Clooney and Hollywood”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
      [] Mr. Clooney published his essay in The New York Times, and the president’s relationship with Hollywood was torn asunder.

Synonyms

edit

Derived terms

edit

Translations

edit

Anagrams

edit