Divide and integrate are opposites. Divide is to split a whole into parts or shares, or to set people against each other. Integrate is to bring parts into a whole so that they work as one, each with a place and a function. Divide breaks a whole apart or sets people at odds; integrate builds one working whole from parts.
They run in opposite directions, especially of communities. Divide splits one thing into parts — a class, a nation — and, of people, sets them against each other. Integrate, from Latin integer 'whole', fits parts into a system so they function together, and, of people, brings them into full, equal membership. A policy that divides a society sets its groups apart; one that integrates it brings them into one working whole. One splits or sets at odds; the other builds a functioning whole.
divide
To divide is to split a whole into parts — often equal ones, and often methodically: divide a cake into six, divide the class into groups, divide twelve by three. From the Latin dividere, 'to force apart'. It is the tidy, measured cousin of split. As a noun, a divide is a gap or rift between groups — the digital divide, a widening social divide. The word reaches into maths (dividend, divisor) and into the old strategy of divide and conquer.
integrate
To integrate is to bring parts together so they function as one whole — from the Latin integrare, 'to make whole'. New software integrates with your calendar; a recruit integrates into a team; separated groups integrate into shared, equal community life. What is integrated stops being an add-on and becomes a working part of the system, the way a gear that meshes lets the whole train turn. It is stronger than to combine: the parts do not just sit together, they work together.
| divide | integrate | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | split into parts; set at odds | fit parts into one working whole |
| Direction | one into many | parts into a functioning whole |
| Of people | sets them against each other | brings them into full membership |
| Often with | land, money, a class, a nation | systems, communities, data, a newcomer |
| Noun | division | integration |
| Example | The issue divided the country. | Integrate the new arrivals. |
Count the pieces and watch the community. Divide breaks one into many, or sets people at odds — a pie cut into wedges, a nation split by an argument. Integrate fits parts into one working whole, giving each a place — the missing gear turning the row as one, newcomers brought into full membership. If a whole is split or people set against each other, that is divide; if parts are fitted into a functioning whole, that is integrate.
divide
- iThe vote deeply divided the party.
- iiDivide the estate among the heirs.
- iiiA river divides the city into two halves.
integrate
- iThe school works to integrate new pupils.
- iiThey integrated the two systems into one.
- iiiPolicies to integrate migrants into the workforce.
Divide and integrate are strong opposites in social and political writing: a divided society is split into camps, while an integrated one brings its groups into one working whole. Divide also has the plain sense of splitting into shares and the arithmetic sense; integrate reaches into maths too (finding an integral), a use unrelated to divide's arithmetic sense despite both being technical.
A high-value opposites pair for essays on society, migration and policy. Use divide for splitting or conflict — 'a divided society', 'the issue divided opinion' — and integrate for bringing groups into one functioning whole — 'policies to integrate migrants', 'an integrated community'. The nouns division and integration are common in social-policy writing. Note the neat maths echo: in arithmetic, division and (in calculus) integration are unrelated but both technical, so keep the social sense in view for Task 2.