integration

American  

[in-ti-grey-shuhn] / ˌɪn tɪˈgreɪ ʃən /

noun

1. an act or instance of combining into an integral whole.

   Synonyms:

   combination

2. an act or instance of integrating a racial, religious, or ethnic group.

3. an act or instance of integrating an organization, place of business, school, etc.

4. Mathematics. the operation of finding the integral of a function or equation, especially solving a differential equation.

5. behavior, as of an individual, that is in harmony with the environment.

6. Psychology. the organization of the constituent elements of the personality into a coordinated, harmonious whole.

7. Genetics. coadaptation.

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integration British  

/ ˌɪntɪˈɡreɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of combining or adding parts to make a unified whole

2. the act of amalgamating a racial or religious group with an existing community

3. the combination of previously racially segregated social facilities into a nonsegregated system

4. psychol organization into a unified pattern, esp of different aspects of the personality into a hierarchical system of functions

5. the assimilation of nutritive material by the body during the process of anabolism

6. maths an operation used in calculus in which the integral of a function or variable is determined; the inverse of differentiation

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integration Scientific  

/ ĭn′tĭ-grā′shən /

1. In calculus, the process of calculating an integral. Integration is the inverse of differentiation, since integrating a given function results in a function whose derivative is the given function. Integration is used in the calculation of such things as the areas and volumes of irregular shapes and solids.

2. Compare differentiation

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integration Cultural  

1. The free association of people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds (see ethnicity); a goal of the civil rights movement to overcome policies of segregation that have been practiced in the United States.

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Discover More

Those favoring integration of schools by such forceful means as busing or affirmative action have frequently argued that integration of schools will lead to integration of society as a whole. (See separate but equal.)

Other Word Forms

• anti-integration adjective
• de-integration noun
• integrationist noun
• nonintegration noun
• prointegration adjective
• self-integration noun

Etymology

Origin of integration

First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin integrātiōn-, stem of integrātiō “renewal,” equivalent to integrāt(us) “renewed, restored” (past participle of integrāre; integrate ( def. ) ) + -iō -ion ( def. )

Explanation

Integration occurs when separate people or things are brought together, like the integration of students from all of the district's elementary schools at the new middle school, or the integration of snowboarding on all ski slopes. You may know the word differentiate, meaning "set apart." Integrate is its opposite. When you integrate things, you bring them together. So integration is the act of doing just that, like the integration of African-American students into mixed-race schools after segregation was outlawed in the 1950s, or the integration of computers in businesses that had previously only used paper-based record-keeping.

Example Sentences

The drugmaker plans full integration of the AI technology by year-end, joining a trend of pharma companies adopting AI.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

Pilot programs will launch across research and development, manufacturing and commercial operations, with full integration by the end of 2026.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

New integration strategies will be needed to incorporate them into electronic systems, Mercier explained.

From Science Daily • Apr. 10, 2026

The SSS website notes that the change "transfers responsibility for registration from individual men to SSS" through integration with other federal data sources, which it believes will result in a "streamlined" process.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

Judge Harry Lemley of Hope, Arkansas, had been named to hear the Little Rock School Board petition asking for a postponement of integration for public schools.

From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals

Related Words

• assimilation