segment

American  

[seg-muhnt, seg-ment, seg-ment] / ˈsɛg mənt, ˈsɛg mɛnt, sɛgˈmɛnt /

noun

• segments
  plural

1. one of the parts into which something naturally separates or is divided; a division, portion, or section.

   a segment of an orange.

2. Geometry.

   1. a part cut off from a figure, especially a circular or spherical one, by a line or plane, as a part of a circular area contained by an arc and its chord or by two parallel lines or planes.

   2. Also called line segment.  a finite section of a line.

3. Zoology.

   1. any of the rings that compose the body of an annelid or arthropod.

   2. any of the discrete parts of the body of an animal, especially of an arthropod.

4. an object, as a machine part, having the form of a segment or sector of a circle.

5. Computers.

   1. a portion of a program, often one that can be loaded and executed independently of other portions.

   2. a unit of data in a database.

6. an arclike support on which the typebars of a typewriter rest when not in use.

---

verb (used with or without object)

• segments,
  present (3rd person singular)
• segmented,
  past participle,  past
• segmenting
  present participle

1. to separate or divide into segments.

segment British  

/ ˈsɛɡməntərɪ, -trɪ /

noun

1. maths

   1. a part of a line or curve between two points

   2. a part of a plane or solid figure cut off by an intersecting line, plane, or planes, esp one between a chord and an arc of a circle

2. one of several parts or sections into which an object is divided; portion

3. zoology any of the parts into which the body or appendages of an annelid or arthropod are divided

4. linguistics a speech sound considered in isolation

---

verb

1. to cut or divide (a whole object) into segments

segment Scientific  

/ sĕg′mənt /

1. The portion of a line between any two of its points.

2. The region bounded by an arc of a circle and the chord that connects the endpoints of the arc.

3. The portion of a sphere included between a pair of parallel planes that intersect it or are tangent to it.

---

Synonym Usage

See part.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• intersegment
  noun
• multisegment
  adjective
• multisegmented
  adjective
• nonsegmentary
  adjective
• nonsegmented
  adjective
• segmentary
  adjective
• segmentate
  adjective
• unsegmentary
  adjective
• unsegmented
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• segments
  plural

Participles

• segmenting
  present
• segmented
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• segment
  simple
• segments
  simple
• have segmented
  perfect
• has segmented
  perfect
• am segmenting
  progressive
• are segmenting
  progressive
• is segmenting
  progressive
• have been segmenting
  perfect progressive
• has been segmenting
  perfect progressive

Past

• segmented
  simple
• had segmented
  perfect
• was segmenting
  progressive
• were segmenting
  progressive
• had been segmenting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will segment
  simple
• will have segmented
  perfect
• will be segmenting
  progressive
• will have been segmenting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of segment

First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin segmentum, equivalent to sec(āre) “to cut” + -mentum -ment

Explanation

A segment is one of several pieces that together create a whole. You could offer a segment of your orange to your girlfriend as a Valentine's Day gift. She’ll probably enjoy the orange, but she may break up with you. Lots of things can have segments. You can talk about a segment of a talk show, a segment of a sphere, or the segment of students in your high school who want to join the Drama Club — the ones singing and dancing in the cafeteria every day. You can also use segment as a verb: when you chop down that oak tree in your front yard, you have to segment the trunk into smaller pieces for firewood.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

segment segments segmented segmenting

From his home, he’ll do a segment with Monday for the pregame show.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

Winfrey won the case in 1998, and was so impressed by McGraw that she invited him onto her show and he subsequently landed a weekly segment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

In Thursday’s call, Dickerson and Hill declined to give specific guidance for the segment beyond the current quarter, but said they expect the segment’s growth to be stronger than they did in May.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

The segment, still dominated today by Japanese firms, has won new popularity in recent years among customers put off by high prices for pure EVs and expensive fuel.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

Most malignancies develop so slowly that they may require a considerable segment of the victim’s life to reach the stage of showing clinical symptoms.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

Revenue for its so-called big three business segments is forecast to rise by between 9.5% and 10%, where it had been aiming for 9.5% growth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

The industry remains focused on low-margin products such as T-shirts and jeans, while rivals have moved into higher-value segments made with synthetic fibre.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

Kraft Heinz raised prices across its segments to offset higher input costs, primarily in coffee and ready-to-drink beverages.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

The Coca-Cola Co. bottler said revenue per case rose and that earnings were boosted by growth in both its sparkling and energy segments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

In music, the segments are the individual notes of a line in the music.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Professional investors have long segmented the market by how large and how fast-growing stocks are, although the definitions of “large,” “small,” “growth” and “value” are all over the map.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

One fossil revealed a segmented cartilaginous sternum, along with sternal ribs, intermediate ribs, and connections linking the ribcage to the shoulder girdle.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 23, 2026

The 2025 SDR recommended a new "segmented approach" to MoD defence procurement to deliver contracts within two years.

From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026

Money should be segmented into three buckets for short-term, medium-term and long-term needs.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 21, 2026

He saw a lot of insects, spiders, and shiny, segmented beetles, going in and out of the twigs.

From "I'm the King of the Castle" by Susan Hill

The rise of Geese reflects Gen Z’s broad interest in music from decades-past, which they have unfettered access to thanks to streaming, and a distaste for segmenting sounds into genres, industry observers say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025

Donets recommends segmenting your customer base as granularly as possible so that you can precisely tailor your messaging and offerings.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 9, 2023

Once you get really good at segmenting people or giving them the right recommendations, you have to have a different way to follow up with every single person.

From The Verge ● Feb. 1, 2022

The report, over 300 pages long, did not indicate that anyone questioned the segmenting maneuver performed that morning.

From New York Times ● Sep. 15, 2020

Blastoderm, blas′to-derm, n. an embryological term applied to the layer or layers of cells arising from the germinal disc, or the portion of a partially segmenting egg which undergoes division.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

Related Words

• division
• piece
• portion
• section
• sector
• slice