Etymology
1. 1590, from M.Du.
splitten, from P.Gmc.
*spl(e)it- (cf. Dan., Fris.
splitte, O.Fris.
splita, Ger.
spleißen "to split"), from PIE
*(s)plei- "to split, splice" (see flint). Meaning "leave, depart" first recorded 1954, U.S. slang. Of couples, "to separate, divorce" from 1942. To split the difference is from 1715; to split (one's) ticket in the U.S. political sense is attested from 1842. The acrobatic feat first so called in 1861. Meaning "sweet dish of sliced fruit with ice cream" is attested from 1920, Amer.Eng.
Splitting image "exact likeness" is from 1880.
Split screen is from 1953;
split shift is from 1955;
split personality first attested 1919.
Split-level as a type of building plan is recorded from 1952.
Split-second first attested 1884, in ref. to a type of stopwatch with two second hands that could be stopped independently; adj. meaning "occurring in a fraction of a second" is from 1946.
2. Attested since about 1567, from Middle Dutch splitten (“to split”) and/or Middle Low German splitten (“to split”), both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *splittjan, an intensive form of Proto-West Germanic *splītan (“to split”), from Proto-Germanic *splītaną (whence Danish splitte, Low German splieten, German spleißen), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pley- (“to split, splice”).
3. Compare Middle English ysplett (“split”, past participle of splatten (“to split”)), Old English speld (“splinter”), Old High German spaltan (“to split”), Middle Irish slis (“splinter”), Lithuanian spaliai (“flax sheaves”), Czech půl (“half”), Old Church Slavonic рас-плитати (ras-plitati, “to cleave, split”). See: Proto-Germanic '
*splītaną', Danish '
splitte', Low Saxon 'splieten', German, old spelling '
spleißen', Old High German 'spaltan'.
Verbs referencing "split"
German, old spelling
splitten, Finnish with old forms
splitata, Low Saxon splieten, Luxembourgish
spläissen, Sanskrit
स्फुटति.