partition

[pahr-tish-uhn, per-]

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noun

a division into or distribution in portions or shares.

a separation, as of two or more things.

something that separates or divides.

a part, division, or section.

an interior wall or barrier dividing a room, area of a building, enclosure, etc., into separate areas.

a septum or dissepiment, as in a plant or animal structure.

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.

Logic. the separation of a whole into its integrant parts.

Mathematics.

a mode of separating a positive whole number into a sum of positive whole numbers.
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).

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.

verb (used with object)

to divide into parts or portions.

to divide or separate by interior walls, barriers, or the like (sometimes followed by off): to partition off a dormitory into cubicles.

to divide (a country or territory) into separate, usually differing political entities.Compare Balkanize.

Law. to divide property among several owners, either in specie or by sale and division of the proceeds.

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 for partition

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR partition ON THESAURUS.COM

11. portion, apportion.

Synonym study

1. See division.

Antonyms for partition

2. unity. 11. unite.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for partition

barrier, dissolution, segregation, separation, subdivide, apportionment, severance, wall, disunion, screen, share, obstruction, portion, detachment, disconnection, allotment, hindrance, distribution, rupture, parting

Examples from the Web for partition

Contemporary Examples of partition

In short, Pakistan is an aggrieved state that got the short end of the stick when Partition happened.
CIA Agents Assess: How Real Is ‘Homeland’?
Chuck Cogan, John MacGaffin
December 15, 2014
He joins Donohue in flanking the man as he disappears behind a partition and from camera view.
Synagogue Slay: When Cops Have to Kill
Michael Daly
December 10, 2014
But of course no one in Moscow has anything to do with the “little green men” trying to partition Ukraine.
Putin Is Just Getting Started in Ukraine
Michael Weiss
June 19, 2014
He has called the 1947 partition the “biggest blunder in history” and advocates peace with India.
Altaf Hussain Finally Arrested in London; Can His MQM Be Neutralized?
Bruce Riedel
June 3, 2014
PV traced his origins to Telangana, and yet he had bitterly opposed the idea of partition during his lifetime.
India’s Newest State Telangana Is Bosnia Redux
Kranti Rai
March 22, 2014

Historical Examples of partition

Here is the partition at my ear down in the deep on the lee side.
The Uncommercial Traveller
Charles Dickens
All this time he stood on the other side of the partition and prayed.
Father Sergius
Leo Tolstoy
There was complete silence on the other side of the partition.
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.
The Captain of the Pole-Star and Other Tales
Arthur Conan Doyle

British Dictionary definitions for partition

partition

noun

a division into parts; separation

something that separates, such as a large screen dividing a room in two

a part or share

a division of a country into two or more separate nations

property law a division of property, esp realty, among joint owners

maths any of the ways by which an integer can be expressed as a sum of integers

logic maths

the division of a class into a number of disjoint and exhaustive subclasses
such a set of subclasses

biology a structure that divides or separates

rhetoric the second part of a speech where the chief lines of thought are announced

verb (tr)

(often foll by off) to separate or apportion into sectionsto partition a room off with a large screen

to divide (a country) into two or more separate nations

property law to divide (property, esp realty) among joint owners, by dividing either the property itself or the proceeds of sale

Derived Formspartitioner or partitionist, noun

Word Origin for partition

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

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.

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

partition in Medicine

partition

[pär-tĭsh′ən]

n.

The act or process of dividing something into parts.

The state of being so divided.

A wall, septum, or other separating membrane in an organism.

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.