compartment

American  

[kuhm-pahrt-muhnt] / kəmˈpɑrt mənt /

noun

• compartments
  plural

1. a part or space marked or partitioned off.

   Synonyms:

   section, division

2. a separate room, section, etc..

   a baggage compartment.

3. U.S. Railroads. a private bedroom with toilet facilities.

4. a separate aspect, function, or the like.

   the compartments of the human mind.

5. Architecture. a distinct major division of a design.

6. Heraldry. a decorative base, as a grassy mound, on which the supporters of an escutcheon stand or rest.

---

verb (used with object)

1. to divide into compartments.

compartment British  

/ kəmˈpɑːtmənt /

noun

1. one of the sections into which an area, esp an enclosed space, is divided or partitioned

2. any separate part or section

   a compartment of the mind

3. a small storage space; locker

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• compartmental
  adjective
• compartmentally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• compartments
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of compartment

1555–65; < Middle French compartiment < Italian compartimento. See compart, -ment

---

Explanation

A compartment is a space within another space, like the glove compartment in a car. Compartments are spaces, but they're not spaces that stand on their own. Rather, compartments are part of other spaces: they're subdivisions. The trunk is a compartment of a car. A pocket is a compartment of a suitcase. Closets are like compartments of rooms. One of the most common compartments is a car's glove compartment, where people throw all kinds of things. Anything that is divided into smaller spaces has compartments. The ventricles are like compartments of your heart.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

compartment compartments

In an otherwise empty compartment of a regional train on its way to a small town in Germany last month, a friendly passenger asked if I was headed to Halberstadt for “the note change.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Cells with greater compartment mingling tended to have lower overall levels of gene activity.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

In January 2025 an Air Busan plane was destroyed on the tarmac in Gimhae Airport in South Korea, with investigators concluding a power bank battery pack left in an overhead luggage compartment was the culprit.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Each seat, the company says, has its own overhead luggage compartment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

He opens the glove compartment and pulls out a pack of peppermint Life Savers and pops one.

From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King

Large sections of the genome are normally organized into relatively distinct active and inactive regions known as compartments.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

Inside, TV screens replaced the overhead luggage compartments, and a strip of lights lined the carriages’ walls from front to back.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

Three interconnected catwalks stretch into the audience, carving the space into small compartments.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026

Take, for example, the viral “snackle box,” which contains multiple compartments to hold everything from your favorite packaged snacks and candies to cut up fruit and vegetables.

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

And that’s when the hovercraft unexpectedly arrived to evacuate them to District 13, where there were more than enough clean, white living compartments, plenty of clothing, and three meals a day.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• alcove
• carriage
• cell
• chamber
• cubicle
• locker
• slot

---