parting

Etymology

noun

1. The act of parting or dividing; the state of being parted; division; separation.
   Bridge End is the border station and the scene of many a sad parting between enterprising shoppers and their purchases—for it is a stronghold of the Customs !—and half an hour is allowed in the timetable for examination and shunting. 1949 November and December, K. Longbottom, “By Goods Train to Gweedore”, in Railway Magazine, page 353
2. A farewell, the act of departing politely.
3. (Britain) The dividing line formed by combing the hair in different directions; part (US)
4. (founding) The surface of the sand of one section of a mould where it meets that of another section.
5. (chemistry) The separation and determination of alloys; especially, the separation, as by acids, of gold from silver in the assay button.
6. (geology) A joint or fissure, as in a coal seam.
7. (nautical) The breaking, as of a cable, by violence.
8. (mineralogy) Lamellar separation in a crystallized mineral, due to some other cause than cleavage, as to the presence of twinning lamellae.

verb

1. present participle and gerund of part