(In taxonomy) taking the narrow view and describing many taxa as separate entities. OPPOSITE: lumping. (The respective botanists are called splitters and lumpers).
A mental mechanism in which the self or others are viewed as all good or all bad, with failure to integrate the positive and negative qualities of the self and others into cohesive images. Often the person alternately idealizes and devalues the same person.
In chemistry, the breaking up of complex molecules into two or more simpler compounds.