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partition

[pahr-tish-uhn, per-]
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noun
  1. a division into or distribution in portions or shares.
  2. a separation, as of two or more things.
  3. something that separates or divides.
  4. a part, division, or section.
  5. an interior wall or barrier dividing a room, area of a building, enclosure, etc., into separate areas.
  6. a septum or dissepiment, as in a plant or animal structure.
  7. Law. a division of property among joint owners or tenants in common or a sale of such property followed by a division of the proceeds.
  8. Logic. the separation of a whole into its integrant parts.
  9. Mathematics.
    1. a mode of separating a positive whole number into a sum of positive whole numbers.
    2. the decomposition of a set into disjoint subsets whose union is the original set: A partition of the set (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) is the collection of subsets (1), (2, 3), (4), and (5).
  10. Rhetoric. (in a speech organized on classical principles) the second, usually brief section or part in which a speaker announces the chief lines of thought to be discussed in support of his or her theme.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to divide into parts or portions.
  2. to divide or separate by interior walls, barriers, or the like (sometimes followed by off): to partition off a dormitory into cubicles.
  3. to divide (a country or territory) into separate, usually differing political entities.Compare Balkanize.
  4. Law. to divide property among several owners, either in specie or by sale and division of the proceeds.
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Origin of partition

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin partītiōn- (stem of partītiō) division, equivalent to partīt(us) past participle of partīrī to divide (see party) + -iōn- -ion
Related formspar·ti·tion·a·ble, adjectivepar·ti·tion·ar·y, adjectivepar·ti·tion·er, par·ti·tion·ist, nounpar·ti·tion·ment, nounpre·par·ti·tion, noun, verb (used with object)sub·par·ti·tion, nounsub·par·ti·tioned, adjectivesub·par·ti·tion·ment, nounun·par·ti·tioned, adjective

Synonyms

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11. portion, apportion.

Synonym study

1. See division.

Antonyms

2. unity. 11. unite.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

barrierdissolutionsegregationseparationsubdivideapportionmentseverancewalldisunionscreenshareobstructionportiondetachmentdisconnectionallotmenthindrancedistributionruptureparting

Examples from the Web for partition

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Here is the partition at my ear down in the deep on the lee side.

  • There was complete silence on the other side of the partition.

    Father Sergius

    Leo Tolstoy

  • All this time he stood on the other side of the partition and prayed.

    Father Sergius

    Leo Tolstoy

  • However, one evening in January she knocked with both her fists against the partition.

    L'Assommoir

    Emile Zola

  • I would have shot you that day through the partition, but unfortunately you were not there.

British Dictionary definitions for partition

partition

noun
  1. a division into parts; separation
  2. something that separates, such as a large screen dividing a room in two
  3. a part or share
  4. a division of a country into two or more separate nations
  5. property law a division of property, esp realty, among joint owners
  6. maths any of the ways by which an integer can be expressed as a sum of integers
  7. logic maths
    1. the division of a class into a number of disjoint and exhaustive subclasses
    2. such a set of subclasses
  8. biology a structure that divides or separates
  9. rhetoric the second part of a speech where the chief lines of thought are announced
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verb (tr)
  1. (often foll by off) to separate or apportion into sectionsto partition a room off with a large screen
  2. to divide (a country) into two or more separate nations
  3. property law to divide (property, esp realty) among joint owners, by dividing either the property itself or the proceeds of sale
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Derived Formspartitioner or partitionist, noun

Word Origin

C15: via Old French from Latin partītiō, from partīre to divide
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for partition

n.

early 15c., "division into shares, distinction," from Old French particion (12c.), from Latin partitionem (nominative partitio) "a sharing, division, partition, distribution; method of dividing," from past participle stem of partire "to part" (see part (v.)). Sense of "that which separates" first recorded late 15c.

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v.

1741, from partition (n.). Related: Partitioned; partitioning.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
partition in Medicine

partition

(pär-tĭsh′ən)
n.
  1. The act or process of dividing something into parts.
  2. The state of being so divided.
  3. A wall, septum, or other separating membrane in an organism.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
partition in Culture

partition

A division of a nation or territory into two or more nations. Cyprus, Germany, India, Ireland, Korea, Palestine, and Vietnam are notable examples of countries that have undergone partition.

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.