fragment

American  

[frag-muhnt, frag-muhnt, -ment, frag-ment] / ˈfræg mənt, ˈfræg mənt, -mɛnt, frægˈmɛnt /

noun

• fragments
  plural

1. 

   a part broken off or detached.

   scattered fragments of the broken vase.

2. an isolated, unfinished, or incomplete part.

   She played a fragment of her latest composition.

3. an odd piece, bit, or scrap.

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verb (used without object)

• fragments,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fragmented,
  past participle,  past
• fragmenting
  present participle

1. to collapse or break into fragments; disintegrate.

   The chair fragmented under his weight.

verb (used with object)

• fragments,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fragmented,
  past participle,  past
• fragmenting
  present participle

1. to break (something) into pieces or fragments; cause to disintegrate.

   Outside influences soon fragmented the Mayan culture.

2. to divide into fragments; disunify.

3. Computers. to store (data from a file) in noncontiguous sectors on a disk drive, splitting the file into smaller pieces and breaking up available free space on the disk.

fragment British  

noun

1. a piece broken off or detached

   fragments of rock

2. an incomplete piece; portion

   fragments of a novel

3. a scrap; morsel; bit

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verb

1. to break or cause to break into fragments

Usage

What does fragment mean? A fragment is a piece that has been broken off of or detached from something else. Fragment most commonly refers to a part that has broken off rather than one that has been separated gently or intentionally, as in The vase smashed into a million fragments. A bone fragment is a (usually small) piece that has been chipped off from a bone. Fragment is also used to refer to a part or portion of something that is incomplete or isolated from the whole, such as a fragment of a movie or piece of music. Sometimes, fragment just means a piece, bit, or scrap (regardless of whether it has been removed from a larger part). As a verb, fragment can mean to break into pieces or disintegrate, as in The empire fragmented into multiple states after the emperor’s death. It can also mean to cause to break into pieces or disintegrate. Less commonly, it can mean to divide into fragments. Fragment is also used as a verb in a much more specific way in the context of computers, in which it means to store data files in a way that breaks them up. The opposite of this sense of fragment is defragment—to bringing the parts of the files back together. The word fragment is used in the formation of many related words, including adjectives, nouns, and verbs. The adjective fragmented describes things that have been broken into fragments or things that are or have been disorganized or disunified in some way. The adjective fragmentary means consisting of or reduced to fragments—disconnected or incomplete, as in fragmentary evidence. Fragmentation is the process of breaking into fragments. The verb fragmentize can mean to break something into fragments or separate it into parts, as in They’re going to fragmentize the corporation into several companies. It can also mean for something to break into fragments (without someone doing the fragmentizing). Example: The pirate captain tore the map into fragments, placing the pieces into separate bottles and scattering them across the seven seas.

Synonym Usage

See part.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• fragments
  plural

Participles

• fragmenting
  present
• fragmented
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• fragment
  simple
• fragments
  simple
• have fragmented
  perfect
• has fragmented
  perfect
• am fragmenting
  progressive
• are fragmenting
  progressive
• is fragmenting
  progressive
• have been fragmenting
  perfect progressive
• has been fragmenting
  perfect progressive

Past

• fragmented
  simple
• had fragmented
  perfect
• was fragmenting
  progressive
• were fragmenting
  progressive
• had been fragmenting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will fragment
  simple
• will have fragmented
  perfect
• will be fragmenting
  progressive
• will have been fragmenting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of fragment

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin fragmentum “a broken piece, remnant,” equivalent to frag- (stem of frangere “to break, shatter” ) + -mentum noun suffix; see origin at break, -ment

Explanation

A fragment is a small piece that’s come off a larger whole, and to fragment is to break. If your teacher writes "frag" on your paper, you've got an incomplete sentence. Fragment, meaning "a tiny, brittle shard," first appeared as a noun and later as a verb. That afternoon you hacked away at the fireplace in your parents’ living room in search of secret treasure as a child? Those dusty chunks of brick you scattered all over their shag carpet were fragments of a once-intact wall, and a happier time before you were grounded. Not only did you cause physical damage that day, but you also fragmented their trust in you.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fragment fragments fragmented fragmenting

These along with a fragment from a Magnum bottle were found on the jeans recovered from the clothing bin.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

“Not a bad place,” Mr. Adams joked, explaining how he refashioned the concept of a parody mass, in which a fragment of an earlier work serves as the foundation of something new.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

It was the last great regional sports network deal, with traditional broadcast audiences about to fragment amid the rise of streaming and cord-cutting.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

Inactive GRK2 appeared to increase production of amyloid beta, a protein fragment that is considered a main cause of Alzheimer's.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

She recalled a precise moment from last night in the Hema, a fragment of a conversation she remembered between two people: Baaz and Bwana Mutunga.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

“As listening fragments, depth of fan connection arguably becomes more important to long-term artist careers than mass reach,” said Tatiana Cirisano, VP of music strategy at Midia Research.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Further fragments were claimed to have been found on another top and a pair of MacGregor's leggings.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

Hopeful return: Bryce Elder had an arthroscopic procedure to clean up bone fragments in his right knee on Sept. 8.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

TCR-based treatments offer another route because their receptors can identify protein fragments that originate inside tumor cells and are later displayed on the cell surface.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

We were in the basement, surrounded by microwave parts, blender pieces, hair-dryer bits, and DVD-player fragments.

From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth

Different parts of the brain are responsible for processing different streams of sensory information, yet our experience of the world usually feels unified rather than fragmented.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026

College sports have become a national market governed by an increasingly fragmented set of rules.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

The report also found that communication to fire survivors was fragmented and lacked predictable pathways to reach residents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

UniCredit wants to create a European banking behemoth better able to take on bigger US rivals and argues that a merger would strengthen the region's fragmented banking sector.

From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026

Gripped with pain and terror, Emilia spoke in fragmented German and Polish.

From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys

For the world's emerging market countries, there is another challenge in a fragmenting world economy: What will drive their own growth, if not demand from larger economies?

From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026

Capturing a comet in the act of fragmenting is something the team had long hoped to achieve.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 21, 2026

But they haven’t fully priced in how the importance of domestic energy infrastructure will grow in a fragmenting world.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026

Prof Weissbourd points to a broader fragmenting of communities too.

From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2025

When I open my eyes, the world looks slightly fractured, and it takes a minute to realize that the sun must be well up and the glasses fragmenting my vision.

From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

Related Words

• bit
• chunk
• hunk
• lump
• particle
• piece
• portion
• remnant
• scrap
• shred
• sliver