Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Secession \Se*ces"sion\, n. [L. secessio: cf. F. s['e]cession.
   See {Secede}.]
   1. The act of seceding; separation from fellowship or
      association with others, as in a religious or political
      organization; withdrawal.

   2. (U.S. Hist.) The withdrawal of a State from the national
      Union.

   {Secession Church} (in Scotland). See {Seceder}.

Source : WordNet®

secession
     n 1: an Austrian school of art and architecture parallel to the
          French art nouveau in the 1890s [syn: {sezession}]
     2: the withdrawal of eleven Southern states from the Union in
        1860 which precipitated the American Civil War
     3: formal separation from an alliance or federation [syn: {withdrawal}]