fissiparousness

/ˌfɪsɪˈpɛrəsnəs/
noun
  1. The tendency to split apart or break into separate parts, especially in a group, organization, or society.
    • The team's fissiparousness became obvious when members could not agree on a single strategy.
    • The political party's fissiparousness led to the formation of several smaller factions.
    • Historians often study the fissiparousness of empires as they decline and break into independent states.
  2. In biology, the quality of reproducing by splitting or dividing into new organisms.
    • In biology class, we learned about the fissiparousness of flatworms, which can regenerate from a single fragment.
    • The fissiparousness of certain bacteria allows them to multiply rapidly in a short time.
    • The fissiparousness of some sea stars enables them to grow new individuals from broken arms.