Divide vs. Share — What's the Difference?
By Urooj Arif & Fiza Rafique — Updated on April 28, 2024
Divide involves splitting something into parts, often evenly, whereas share implies distribution among others, focusing on communal use or ownership.
Difference Between Divide and Share
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Divide is primarily about separating an entity into distinct pieces or sections, aiming for a numerical or logical division. Whereas share refers to the act of giving a portion of something to others, typically implying a collective enjoyment or use.
Divide can be executed without the necessity of multiple participants, as it can be an internal arrangement or allocation. On the other hand, share inherently involves multiple parties, as it is about distributing something among individuals.
Divide often connotes a more mathematical or methodical approach, such as dividing an inheritance into equal parts. While share suggests a more informal or equitable distribution, like sharing a meal, which doesn't necessarily require exact division.
Divide can also imply division that results in separation or isolation, for example, dividing a group into teams. Whereas share carries a sense of unity or coming together, as sharing ideas in a meeting to foster collaboration.
Divide might not always lead to equal parts, as the intent is often based on criteria or need. Whereas share usually tries to ensure that everyone gets a fair portion, though not necessarily equal, based on the context of fairness or need.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Splitting something into parts or sections
Distributing part of something among others
Intention
Can be for orderly arrangement or separation
For collective use or benefit
Participation
Can be done individually or in groups
Involves multiple parties by definition
Method
Often involves calculation or specific proportions
Can be informal and based on mutual agreement
Outcome
May result in distinct, separate entities
Encourages communal use and continued connection
Compare with Definitions
Divide
To share something by apportioning.
They divided the chores among the siblings.
Share
To use or enjoy something jointly.
They shared the apartment to reduce living costs.
Divide
To segment or partition a group or area.
The river divides the city into two distinct parts.
Share
To have a part in something.
Each heir received a share of the estate.
Divide
To separate into parts or pieces.
She divided the cake into eight equal slices.
Share
To give a portion of something to others.
He shared his lunch with a friend.
Divide
To classify or categorize distinctly.
Students were divided by skill level for the workshop.
Share
To tell others about personal experiences or information.
She shared her travel stories at the party.
Divide
To cause disagreement or disunity.
The issue divided opinion within the community.
Share
To distribute digital information or media.
He shared the document through the company's network.
Divide
Separate or be separated into parts
The cell clusters began to divide rapidly
Consumer magazines can be divided into a number of categories
Share
A part or portion belonging to, distributed to, contributed by, or owed by a person or group
The pirates argued over their shares of the treasure.
Divide
Disagree or cause to disagree
Cities where politicians frequently divide along racial lines
The question had divided Frenchmen since the Revolution
Share
An equitable portion
Do one's share of the work.
Divide
Find how many times (a number) contains another
36 divided by 2 equals 18
Share
One of the equal parts into which the capital stock of a company is divided
Bought 200 shares of the company's stock.
Divide
A difference or disagreement between two groups, typically producing tension
There was still a profound cultural divide between the parties
Share
A unit of ownership in a mutual fund or other investment vehicle
Bought two shares in a mutual fund.
Divide
To separate into parts, sections, groups, or branches
Divided the students into four groups.
Share
Shares Chiefly British Stocks
European shares jumped two percent. The fund invests half the money in bonds and half in shares.
Divide
To form a border or barrier between
A mountain chain divides France and Spain.
Share
A plowshare.
Divide
To sector into units of measurement; graduate
The ruler was divided into metric units.
Share
To accord a share in (something) to another or others
Shared her chocolate bar with a friend.
Divide
To group according to kind; classify or assign
Divided the plants into different species.
Share
To divide and parcel out in shares; apportion
Shared the estate among his heirs.
Divide
To cause to separate into opposing factions; disunite
"They want not to divide either the Revolution or the Church but to be an integral part of both" (Conor Cruise O'Brien).
Share
To participate in, use, enjoy, or experience jointly or in turns
Share a responsibility.
Share a room.
Divide
To cause (members of a parliament) to vote by separating into groups, as pro and con.
Share
To hold or have jointly with another or others
She shares my view about the election.
Divide
To give out or apportion among a number
Volunteers divided the different jobs among themselves.
Share
To relate (a secret or experience, for example) to another or others.
Divide
To subject (a number) to the process of division
Divided 20 by 4.
Share
(Computers) To make (a digital file) accessible to other users on a network, as for copying and downloading.
Divide
To be a divisor of
3 divides 9.
Share
To have a share or part
Shared in the profits.
Divide
To use (a number) as a divisor
Divided 5 into 35.
Share
To allow someone to use or enjoy something that one possesses
Being in daycare taught the child to share.
Divide
To become separated into parts
The mixture will divide into several layers if left unagitated.
Share
To use or enjoy something jointly or in turns
There is only one computer, so we will have to share.
Divide
To branch out, as a river or a blood vessel.
Share
To talk about personal experiences or feelings with others.
Divide
To form into factions; take sides
The party divided evenly on the tax issue.
Share
A portion of something, especially a portion given or allotted to someone.
Each of the robbers took a share of the loot.
The TV programme was cancelled because it only gained a 10% share of that night's viewing audience.
Divide
To vote by dividing.
Share
(finance) A financial instrument that shows that one owns a part of a company that provides the benefit of limited liability.
Divide
(Mathematics) To perform the operation of division.
Share
(computing) A configuration enabling a resource to be shared over a network.
Upload media from the browser or directly to the file share.
Divide
(Biology) To undergo cell division.
Share
(social media) The action of sharing something with other people via social media.
Divide
A dividing point or line
"would clearly tip the court ... across a dangerous constitutional divide" (Lawrence H. Tribe).
Share
(anatomy) The sharebone or pubis.
Divide
See watershed.
Share
(agriculture) The cutting blade of an agricultural machine like a plough, a cultivator or a seeding-machine.
Divide
(transitive) To split or separate (something) into two or more parts.
A wall divides two houses; a stream divides the towns
Share
To give part of what one has to somebody else to use or consume.
Divide
(transitive) To share (something) by dividing it.
How shall we divide this pie?
Share
To have or use in common.
To share a shelter with another
They share a language.
Divide
To calculate the number (the quotient) by which you must multiply one given number (the divisor) to produce a second given number (the dividend).
If you divide 6 by 3, you get 2.
Share
To divide and distribute.
Divide
To be a divisor of.
3 divides 6.
Share
To tell to another.
He shared his story with the press.
Divide
(intransitive) To separate into two or more parts.
Share
To allow public or private sharing of computer data or space in a network
Divide
Of a cell, to reproduce by dividing.
Share
To cut; to shear; to cleave; to divide.
Divide
To disunite in opinion or interest; to make discordant or hostile; to set at variance.
Share
The part (usually an iron or steel plate) of a plow which cuts the ground at the bottom of a furrow; a plowshare.
Divide
(obsolete) To break friendship; to fall out.
Share
The part which opens the ground for the reception of the seed, in a machine for sowing seed.
Divide
(obsolete) To have a share; to partake.
Share
A certain quantity; a portion; a part; a division; as, a small share of prudence.
Divide
To vote, as in the British parliament and other legislatures, by the members separating themselves into two parties (as on opposite sides of the hall or in opposite lobbies), that is, the ayes dividing from the noes.
Share
Especially, the part allotted or belonging to one, of any property or interest owned by a number; a portion among others; an apportioned lot; an allotment; a dividend.
Divide
(music) To play or sing in a florid style, or with variations.
Share
Hence, one of a certain number of equal portions into which any property or invested capital is divided; as, a ship owned in ten shares.
Divide
A thing that divides.
Stay on your side of the divide, please.
Share
The pubes; the sharebone.
Divide
An act of dividing.
The divide left most of the good land on my share of the property.
Share
To part among two or more; to distribute in portions; to divide.
Suppose I share my fortune equally between my children and a stranger.
Divide
A distancing between two people or things.
There is a great divide between us.
Share
To partake of, use, or experience, with others; to have a portion of; to take and possess in common; as, to share a shelter with another.
While avarice and rapine share the land.
Divide
(geography) A large chasm, gorge, or ravine between two areas of land.
If you're heading to the coast, you'll have to cross the divide first.
Share
To cut; to shear; to cleave; to divide.
The shared visage hangs on equal sides.
Divide
(hydrology) The topographical boundary dividing two adjacent catchment basins, such as a ridge or a crest.
Share
To have part; to receive a portion; to partake, enjoy, or suffer with others.
A right of inheritance gave every one a title to share in the goods of his father.
Divide
To part asunder (a whole); to sever into two or more parts or pieces; to sunder; to separate into parts.
Divide the living child in two.
Share
Any of the equal portions into which the capital stock of a corporation is divided and ownership of which is evidenced by a stock certificate;
He bought 100 shares of IBM at the market price
Divide
To cause to be separate; to keep apart by a partition, or by an imaginary line or limit; as, a wall divides two houses; a stream divides the towns.
Let it divide the waters from the waters.
Share
Assets belonging to or due to or contributed by an individual person or group;
He wanted his share in cash
Divide
To make partition of among a number; to apportion, as profits of stock among proprietors; to give in shares; to distribute; to mete out; to share.
True justice unto people to divide.
Ye shall divide the land by lot.
Share
The result of parcelling out or sharing;
Death gets more than its share of attention from theologicans
Divide
To disunite in opinion or interest; to make discordant or hostile; to set at variance.
If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom can not stand.
Every family became now divided within itself.
Share
Any one of a number of individual efforts in a common endeavor;
I am proud of my contribution to the team's success
They all did their share of the work
Divide
To separate into two parts, in order to ascertain the votes for and against a measure; as, to divide a legislative house upon a question.
Share
A sharp steel wedge that cuts loose the top layer of soil
Divide
To subject to arithmetical division.
Share
Have in common;
Our children share a love of music
The two countries share a long border
Divide
To separate into species; - said of a genus or generic term.
Share
Use jointly or in common
Divide
To play or sing in a florid style, or with variations.
Share
Have, give, or receive a share of;
We shared the cake
Divide
To be separated; to part; to open; to go asunder.
The Indo-Germanic family divides into three groups.
Share
Give out as one's portion or share
Divide
To cause separation; to disunite.
A gulf, a strait, the sea intervening between islands, divide less than the matted forest.
Share
Communicate;
I'd like to share this idea with you
Divide
To break friendship; to fall out.
Divide
To have a share; to partake.
Divide
To vote, as in the British Parliament, by the members separating themselves into two parties (as on opposite sides of the hall or in opposite lobbies), that is, the ayes dividing from the noes.
The emperors sat, voted, and divided with their equals.
Divide
A dividing ridge of land between the tributaries of two streams; also called watershed and water parting. A divide on either side of which the waters drain into two different oceans is called a continental divide.
Divide
A serious disagreement between two groups of people (typically producing tension or hostility)
Divide
A ridge of land that separates two adjacent river systems
Divide
Separate into parts or portions;
Divide the cake into three equal parts
The British carved up the Ottoman Empire after World War I
Divide
Perform a division;
Can you divide 49 by seven?
Divide
Act as a barrier between; stand between;
The mountain range divides the two countries
Divide
Come apart;
The two pieces that we had glued separated
Divide
Make a division or separation
Divide
Force, take, or pull apart;
He separated the fighting children
Moses parted the Red Sea
Common Curiosities
What does it mean to divide something in mathematics?
Divide refers to the operation of dividing numbers, determining how many times one number is contained within another.
Is dividing always fair?
Dividing is not always fair, especially if the criteria for division are not agreed upon by all involved parties.
How does culture influence the concept of sharing?
Cultural norms significantly influence how and what people choose to share, impacting communal relationships and practices.
Can dividing resources in a company be beneficial?
Dividing resources can enhance efficiency and focus, but requires careful planning to avoid undermining collaboration.
How do people usually share responsibilities?
People often share responsibilities by agreeing to handle different tasks or aspects of a common project.
Can sharing lead to inequality?
Sharing can sometimes lead to perceived inequality if not everyone agrees on the value of what is shared.
Can you divide something without sharing it?
Yes, one can divide something into parts without sharing, as when allocating resources for individual use.
How does sharing affect social relationships?
Sharing generally strengthens social bonds by fostering trust and cooperation.
What is the difference between sharing information and gossiping?
Sharing information is typically constructive and intended to inform, whereas gossiping involves spreading rumors or private facts irresponsibly.
How do siblings typically share rooms?
Siblings often share rooms by dividing the space to accommodate personal areas within a shared environment.
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Written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
