partītiō

1. Dividere and dirimere mean to divide something, merely in order to break the unity of the whole, and separate it into parts, whereas partiri means to divide, in order to get the parts of the whole, and to be able to dispose of them. Hence the phrases divide et impera, and dividere sententias, but partiri prædam. 2. Divisio denotes, theoretically, the separation of a genus into its species, whereas partitio, the separation of the whole into its parts. Quintil. v. 10, 63. Cic. Top. 5. 3. Dividere refers to a whole, of which the parts are merely locally and mechanically joined, and therefore severs only an exterior connection; but dirimere refers to a whole, of which the parts organically cohere, and destroys an interior connection. Liv. xxii. 15. Casilinum urbs . . . Volturno flumine dirempta Falernum ac Campanum agrum dividit: for the separation of a city into two halves by a river, is an interior separation, whereas the separation of two neighboring districts by a city, is an exterior separation. 4. Dividere means also to separate into parts, without any accessory notion, whereas dispertire, with reference to future possessors, and distribuere, with reference to the right owners, or to proper and suitable places. (iv. 156.)