escindir

to split

escindir(eh-seen-deer)

transitive verb

1. (to divide)

a. to split

La pelea por la herencia había escindido a la familia.

The feud over the inheritance had split the family.

b. to partition (territory)

Alemania quedó escindida después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

Germany was partitioned after World War II.

2. (physics)

a. to split

Rutherford, conocido como el padre de la física nuclear, fue el primero en escindir un átomo.

Rutherford, known as the father of nuclear pysics, was the first to split an atom.

escindirse

pronominal verb

3. (to be divided; often used with "de")

a. to split

Los duros enfrentamientos entre las distintas facciones nos hacen pensar que el partido pudiera escindirse.

We are led to believe the party might split over the tense confrontation between the different factions.

b. to split off (group, faction)

La Iglesia anglicana es una rama que se escindió de la Iglesia de Roma.

The Anglican Church is a branch that split off from the Roman Church.

c. to break away (group, faction)

El bajista y el batería se escindieron del grupo de rock para montar una banda de jazz.

The bass player and the drummer broke away from the rock group to start a jazz band.

d. to be partitioned (territory)

La antigua Checoslovaquia se escindió en dos estados independientes.

The old Czechoslovakia was partitioned into two independent states.

4. (physics)

a. to split

Los científicos estudian el momento preciso en que se escinde el núcleo atómico.

Scientists are studying the precise moment when the atomic nucleus splits.