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PlainSpell

divorce

/dɪˈvoɹs/noun, verb

divorce is spelled D-I-V-O-R-C-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 23 times per million words in written English, the 3,875th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, divorce means “The legal dissolution of a marriage” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of divorce is divorces or divorcés.

How many letters and syllables are in divorce?

Letters7: D-I-V-O-R-C-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing23 times per million words; the 3,875th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is divorce?

Divorce appears 23 times per million words in written English, the 3,875th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce divorce?

  • UK /dɪˈvɔːs/
  • UK /-voəs/
  • US /dɪˈvoɹs/

Divorce has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-divorce.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with divorce?

5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as divorce from its last stressed vowel (/oɹs/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of divorce

  • divorces plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • divorcing participle, present
  • divorced participle, past
  • divorcés plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does divorce mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The legal dissolution of a marriage.

    Richard obtained a divorce from his wife some years ago, but hasn't returned to the dating scene.

  2. 2

    A separation of connected things.

    The Civil War split between Virginia and West Virginia was a divorce based along cultural and economic as well as geographic lines.

  3. 3

    The separation of a bonded pair of animals.

  4. 4

    obsoleteThat which separates.

verb

  1. 1

    To legally dissolve a marriage between two people.

    A ship captain can marry couples, but cannot divorce them.

  2. 2

    To end one's own marriage to (a person) in this way.

    Lucy divorced Steve when she discovered that he had been unfaithful.

  3. 3

    To obtain a legal divorce.

    Edna and Simon divorced last year; he got the house, and she retained the business.

  4. 4

    To separate something that was connected.

    The radical group voted to divorce itself from the main faction and start an independent movement.

noun

as divorcé
  1. 1

    A divorced man.

adjective

as divorcé
  1. 1

    masculineraremasculine form of divorcée (“divorced”). (a form of divorcée)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Divorce in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchdivorce (legal dissolution of a marriage), divorcer (legally dissolve a marriage), se divorcer (end one's own marriage), divorcé (divorced man)
GermanScheidung, Ehescheidung (legal dissolution of a marriage), scheiden (legally dissolve a marriage), sich scheiden lassen (end one's own marriage), Geschiedener, geschiedener Mann (divorced man)
Portuguesedivórcio, separação (legal dissolution of a marriage), divorciar (legally dissolve a marriage), divorciar-se (end one's own marriage), divisão (separation of connected things), separar (separate something that was connected)
Spanishdivorcio (legal dissolution of a marriage), divorciar (legally dissolve a marriage), divorciarse (end one's own marriage), divorciado (divorced man)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does divorce come from?

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

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after divorce