disintegration

[dis-in-tuh-grey-shuhn]

noun

1. the act or process of disintegrating.

2. Physics.,  radioactive decay.

Other Word Forms

• nondisintegration noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of disintegration¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; disintegrate + -ion

Example Sentences

It is also no surprise an Australian captain who reveled in "mental disintegration" thought proceedings were set by a similar incident 27 years earlier.

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Reducing the witches’ brew of tribal conflict, social disintegration, jihadist insurgency and religious violence afflicting that country to a charge of Christian genocide misses the complexity and scale of the horror.

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Both emphasized the need to address root causes of violence, including poverty and social disintegration.

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"How far will the disintegration of the state go?" said far-right National Rally party leader Jordan Bardella on social media, calling the theft "an unbearable humiliation for our country".

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In the messages, the officer painted a picture of Hamas's internal disintegration and the near-total collapse of security across Gaza, which the group governed before the conflict.

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Related Words

• dissolution 
• fragmentation