Definition of "schism" [schism]

• A separation or division into factions. (noun)
• A formal breach of union within a Christian church. (noun)
• The offense of attempting to produce such a breach. (noun)
• Disunion; discord. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The resistance which followed, both in Bombay and in other parts of India has uniformly been called the "Goan or Indo-Portuguese Schism" by writers outside the Padroado party; and the term schism occurs frequently in the pronouncements of the Holy See; but the Padroadists themselves have always resented this title on the ground that the fault lay with the"
• "Let others, under pretence of a dread of what they call schism, run back into antichris - tian errors and heresies."
• "Newman realised that he had to find an answer to the pressing question: was his position wrong or was the church of England in schism?"