Cleavage is a feminine noun and is related to the act of cleave, share or break apart, being present in several areas of human knowledge.
Within the study of linguistics, the cleavage is used as a feature of the syntax of the modern Portuguese language, dividing a sentence in two, that is, it can highlight a certain element of a sentence to enhance or emphasis. Example: "Paulo went fishing" = "Who went fishing was Paulo".
In this case, normally the sentence structure is formed by the verb "to be", together with the words "who" or "what", reinforcing the meaning of the message.
Mineral cleavage
At geology, a mineral cleavage it is the name given to mineral bodies that divide more easily according to certain planes.
Some crystals or rocks, for example, are easier to cleave, which means that they tend to divide or create "new faces" more easily, when exposed to certain directions and according to your composite molecular.
THE mineral cleavage it is divided into five modalities: "poor", "moderate", "good", "perfect" or "outstanding".
social cleavage
In social science studies, the so-called social cleavage it is the process of separation or fragmentation of social groups, whether into subgroups or into new groups, for the most diverse possible reasons.
Cleavage in Psychology
In psychology, the ego cleavage is a term used by Freud to describe a mental phenomenon that works, as a defense mechanism, when there is a division of feelings, behaviors, ideas or other psychological manifestations inherent to a individual.
It occurs when a person has two types of feelings or behaviors in relation to the same and only reality.
The splitting of the ego is associated with psychotic behavior, when the individual presents, in the realm of the ego, two contradictory and simultaneous personalities relative to reality.
Cleavage in Embryology
Within biology studies, the embryonic cleavage is the name given to the processes of initial divisions of the zygote that take place in the fallopian tube, forming a multicellular embryo.
See also the meaning of Fetal develop.