ENGLISH
REFERENCE

divorce

n. C / U
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //dɪˈvɔɹs// UK //dɪvˈɔːs// di·vorce Archaic General-service

n. the legal end of a marriage. It is the process where two people who were married decide to stop being husband and wife.

n. the legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body. Often used metaphorically to describe a complete separation between two things that were once connected.


SIMPLE

They decided to get a divorce after ten years of marriage.

CONTEXTUAL

The lawyer explained that a divorce involves more than just signing papers; it requires a fair division of shared property.

COMPLEX

Scholars have noted a growing divorce between the theoretical models used in the classroom and the practical realities of the modern global marketplace.

Synonyms
Origin

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

Pitfall

She wants to make a divorce.She wants to get a divorce.Learners often use 'make' or 'do' with divorce, but the standard collocations are 'get', 'file for', or 'seek'.

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