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

A newly single writer and her daughter arrive in Sicily, carrying a fragment of a Roman ruin that they hope to return to its original site.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

And 40 years ago, while studying one such bed for her PhD, Prof Christine Maggs found a fragment of pink-striped seaweed living on maerl she had never seen before.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

“What we’ve seen is only a fragment of what information there might be, because not all of the government records from phones have been turned over,” Joachín said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

After entering the cells, APP was cut into amyloid-B42, a toxic fragment strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026

A fragment of beetle was sticking to her lower lip, and there was no expression at all in her black button eyes.

From "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman

But fragments of video and satellite imagery from before and after the disaster have begun to reveal the scale of the destruction.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

Instead of simply measuring the total amounts of RNA and protein, as many studies do, Kalsotra's team used deep RNA sequencing and computational analysis to examine how RNA fragments were being spliced.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026

Across Nepal's flood disaster zone, survivors are returning to villages reduced to mud and debris, searching for belongings, documents and fragments of lives swept away in minutes.

From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026

Four years ago a trace of DNA was detected on fragments of skin found on the victim's trousers because of improved forensic techniques.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

They shimmered and rippled, and when I looked closer, I realized that the threads were fragments of stories—actual lines from tales I vaguely remembered—spun into golden silk.

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

Casey’s has scale in an otherwise fragmented convenience-store industry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Many diamond frogs live in forests that are becoming increasingly fragmented by deforestation.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026

The industry is fragmented, with the vast majority of carriers operating 10 or fewer trucks.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026

But in a letter to NHS England and a small group of patient advocates, Manas said the central body had created a "fragmented" system "with poor accountability".

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

The dim light fragmented and died away creeping up the eastern wall.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Ice masses of this size can remain in the ocean for years, slowly fragmenting into smaller pieces that may become progressively harder to detect and follow.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026

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

According to the Alma Research Center, they include an advanced interceptor drone, specialist fragmenting anti-drone ammunition, and automatic firing systems with electro-optical sensors.

From BBC ● May 28, 2026

In a fragmenting postwar global order, the administration sees American security as linked to oil resources in the Western Hemisphere, said Kevin Book, who heads research at energy-research firm ClearView Energy Partners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026

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