fission

Fission is defined as the action of dividing into two or more parts.

(noun)

When everyone in your club disagrees on a fundamental issue and you all split up and three separate new clubs are formed, this is an example of fission.
When the nuclei of atoms divide into two parts and there is energy created by the split, this is an example of fission.

See fission in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

a splitting apart; division into parts
nuclear fission
Biol. a form of asexual reproduction, found in various simple plants and animals, in which the parent organism divides into two or more approximately equal parts, each becoming an independent individual

Origin: L fissio < fissus, pp. of findere, to cleave, split < IE base *bheid-, to split > bite

intransitive verb, transitive verb

to undergo or cause to undergo nuclear fission

Related Forms:

See fission in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

The act or process of splitting into parts.
A nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus, especially a heavy nucleus such as an isotope of uranium, splits into fragments, usually two fragments of comparable mass, releasing from 100 million to several hundred million electron volts of energy.
Biology An asexual reproductive process in which a unicellular organism divides into two or more independently maturing daughter cells.

verb fis·sioned, fis·sion·ing, fis·sions

verb, transitive

To cause (an atom) to undergo fission.

verb, intransitive

To undergo fission.

Origin:

Origin: Latin fissiō, fissiōn-, a cleaving

Origin: , from fissus, split; see fissi-

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