fragmentation

UK/ˌfɹæɡmənˈteɪ̯ʃən/US/ˌfɹæɡmənˈteɪ̯ʃən/

nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,475 of 15,258mostly written

Fragmentation is the breaking of a whole into scattered pieces. Political fragmentation, habitat fragmentation, fragmentation of the market.

Habitat fragmentation is one of the great causes of extinction, since populations cut into pieces by roads and fields cannot mix or move. In computing, fragmentation is a file stored in scattered parts rather than one run.

Definitions of fragmentation

1nounfragmentationThe breaking of a whole into scattered pieces.C1
“The fragmentation of the party into small groups meant it could no longer win elections.”

fragmentation is a breaking.

Where it comes from

Proto-Indo-European
*bʰreg-
Middle English
fragment
English
fragment
English, today
fragmentation

From fragment + -ation. fragment comes from Middle English fragment. From Late Middle English fragment, from Latin fragmentum (“a fragment, remnant”), from frangō + mentum.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

fragmentation in the wild

In necrosis, by contrast, nuclear fragmentation occurs in a less orderly fashion, leaving behind cellular debris that can contribute to tissue damage and inflammation.
Karyorrhexis
Loss of habitat can be preceded by an initial habitat fragmentation.
Habitat destruction
The M67 grenade is a fragmentation hand grenade used by the United States military.
M67 grenade
In many cases, fragmentation leads to storage space being "wasted", and programs will tend to run inefficiently due to the shortage of memory.
Fragmentation (computing)
APLs are classified into blast mines and fragmentation mines; the latter may or may not be a bounding mine.
Anti-personnel mine

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

fragment

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