sunder
/ˈsʌndɚ/verb, noun
sunder is a verb meaning “To break or separate or to break apart, especially with force” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled S-U-N-D-E-R and has 2 syllables, and it appears about once in every 3 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does sunder mean?
verb
- 1
To break or separate or to break apart, especially with force.
- 2
To part, separate.
Two souls, the shores wave-mocked of sundering seas: – Such are we now.
- 3
UKdatedTo expose to the sun and wind.
noun
- 1
a separation into parts; a division or severance
adjective
- 1
obsoleteSundry; separate; different.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce sunder?
- US /ˈsʌndɚ/
Sunder 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-sunder.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sunder
- more sunder comparative
- most sunder superlative
- sunders present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- sundering participle, present
- sundered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is sunder?
Sunder appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,808th 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).
Sunder in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 sunder come from?
From Middle English sundren (“to separate, part, divide”), from Old English sundrian (“to separate, split, part, divide”), from Proto-Germanic *sundrōną (“to separate”), from Proto-Indo-European *sen(e)- (“separate, without”). Cognate with Scots sinder, sunder (“to separate, divide, split up”), Dutch zonderen (“to isolate”), German sondern (“to separate”), Swedish söndra (“to divide”). More at sundry.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).