Link Centre Dictionary

asunder

asun·der

UK/əˈsʌndə/ US/əˈsʌndəɹ/ uncommon archaic literary obsolete
adverb (1) adjective (1)

adverb

1.

into parts or pieces

  • “he took his father”
  • “;”
  • “;”
Synonyms

adjective

1.

widely separated especially in space

  • “as wide asunder as pole from pole”
Similar

Origin

From Middle English asunder, asonder (“apart in position, distant; apart in movement; to pieces; alone, separately; distinct in kind, different”), asondri (“distinct, separate”), onsunder, onsondre (“apart, asunder; alone, separately; especially, particularly (?)”), from Old English onsundrum, on sundur (“asunder, apart, privately”), probably from on- (prefix meaning ‘on, upon’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- (“on, onto”)) + sundor, sunder (“alone, apart; separately; privately”) (from Proto-West Germanic *sundr, from Proto-Germanic *sundraz (“alone, separate”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *senH- (“apart; for oneself; without”)). By surface analysis, a- (prefix meaning ‘at; in; on’ denoting a condition, manner, or state) + sunder (“(obsolete except dialectal) different; separate”). cognates * Danish sønder * Dutch zonder * Faroese sundur * German sonder * Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍂𐍉 (sundrō) * Icelandic sundur * Norwegian Bokmål sunder, sønder * Swedish sönder

Phrases

  • put asunder

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.