What does clivage in French mean?

What is the meaning of the word clivage in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use clivage in French.

The word clivage in French means division, split, rift, fault, flaw, cleavage, left-right divide, social divide, social division. To learn more, please see the details below.

Listen to pronunciation

Meaning of the word clivage

division, split, rift

nom masculin (forte différence de pensée) (figurative)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Il y a de nombreux clivages entre les habitants de la ville.
There are numerous divisions among the town's inhabitants.

fault, flaw

nom masculin (faiblesse)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Sur certains cristaux, on voit les plans de clivage à l'œil nu.
On certain crystals the flaws are visible to the naked eye.

cleavage

nom masculin (roche : fracture) (rock)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Les tailleurs de pierre maîtrisent le clivage de l'ardoise.

left-right divide

nom masculin (fracture politique) (politics)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Dans la politique française, l'expression « clivage droite-gauche » fait référence à l'opposition de principe entre libéraux et socialistes.

social divide, social division

nom masculin (fossé entre classes sociales)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

Let's learn French

So now that you know more about the meaning of clivage in French, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in French.

Do you know about French

French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.