segment

American  

[seg-muhnt, seg-ment, seg-ment] / ˈsɛg mənt, ˈsɛg mɛnt, sɛgˈmɛnt /

noun

1. one of the parts into which something naturally separates or is divided; a division, portion, or section.

   a segment of an orange.

2. Geometry.

   1. a part cut off from a figure, especially a circular or spherical one, by a line or plane, as a part of a circular area contained by an arc and its chord or by two parallel lines or planes.

   2. Also called line segment.  a finite section of a line.

3. Zoology.

   1. any of the rings that compose the body of an annelid or arthropod.

   2. any of the discrete parts of the body of an animal, especially of an arthropod.

4. an object, as a machine part, having the form of a segment or sector of a circle.

5. Computers.

   1. a portion of a program, often one that can be loaded and executed independently of other portions.

   2. a unit of data in a database.

6. an arclike support on which the typebars of a typewriter rest when not in use.

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verb (used with or without object)

1. to separate or divide into segments.

segment British  

/ ˈsɛɡməntərɪ, -trɪ /

noun

1. maths

   1. a part of a line or curve between two points

   2. a part of a plane or solid figure cut off by an intersecting line, plane, or planes, esp one between a chord and an arc of a circle

2. one of several parts or sections into which an object is divided; portion

3. zoology any of the parts into which the body or appendages of an annelid or arthropod are divided

4. linguistics a speech sound considered in isolation

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verb

1. to cut or divide (a whole object) into segments

segment Scientific  

/ sĕg′mənt /

1. The portion of a line between any two of its points.

2. The region bounded by an arc of a circle and the chord that connects the endpoints of the arc.

3. The portion of a sphere included between a pair of parallel planes that intersect it or are tangent to it.

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Related Words

See part.

Other Word Forms

• intersegment
  noun
• multisegment
  adjective
• multisegmented
  adjective
• nonsegmentary
  adjective
• nonsegmented
  adjective
• segmentary
  adjective
• segmentate
  adjective
• unsegmentary
  adjective
• unsegmented
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of segment

First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin segmentum, equivalent to sec(āre) “to cut” + -mentum -ment

Explanation

A segment is one of several pieces that together create a whole. You could offer a segment of your orange to your girlfriend as a Valentine's Day gift. She’ll probably enjoy the orange, but she may break up with you. Lots of things can have segments. You can talk about a segment of a talk show, a segment of a sphere, or the segment of students in your high school who want to join the Drama Club — the ones singing and dancing in the cafeteria every day. You can also use segment as a verb: when you chop down that oak tree in your front yard, you have to segment the trunk into smaller pieces for firewood.

Example Sentences

The company also built a segment of border wall in Sunland Park, New Mexico, without following proper procedures.

From Salon • May 25, 2026

"This led the surgeon to take out the segment of bowel that did not have the cancer in it," said the report.

From BBC • May 24, 2026

The system can automatically identify and segment 31 organs and tissue types while also mapping nerves and immune cells throughout the body.

From Science Daily • May 23, 2026

As with so much of Hofmann’s work, the subtleties of color—different greens, for example, or the red-on-brown segment that could be a fine painting on its own—make it compelling.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 23, 2026

At present, the blood rain’s falling and we’re on the beach below the monkey segment, far too close to the fog for my liking.

From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

Related Words

• division
• piece
• portion
• section
• sector
• slice