fragmentation

[ frag-muhn-tey-shuhn ]

noun

1. the act or process of fragmenting; state of being fragmented.
2. the disintegration, collapse, or breakdown of norms of thought, behavior, or social relationship.
3. the pieces of an exploded fragmentation bomb or grenade.
4. Computers. the process or result of storing data from a file in noncontiguous sectors on a disk drive. As files are created, modified, deleted, etc., the files are split into smaller pieces and the remaining free space on the disk is broken up, slowing down data access speed on the disk.

fragmentation

/ frăg′mən-tā′shən /

1. The scattering of parts of a computer file across different regions of a disk. Fragmentation occurs when the operating system breaks up the file and stores it in locations left vacant by previously deleted files. The more fragmented the file, the slower it is to retrieve, since each piece of the file must be identified and located on the disk.

Word History and Origins

Origin of fragmentation¹

First recorded in 1880–85; fragment + -ation

Example Sentences

"When you have the stressors that the tumor microenvironment puts on T-cells, you get a disruption, or fragmentation, of the Golgi apparatus where it essentially isn't able to do its job. Hydrogen sulfide protects against that disruption," Oberholtzer said.

From Science Daily

Media fragmentation "means there's not enough cultural unification to ever really expel anyone from the discourse."

From Salon

"We need to do much more than provide these individuals a follow-up prenatal visit; our actions have to be timely and address root causes and fragmentation in the system to impact the layers of structural racism that we already know contribute to maternal morbidity."

From Science Daily

Mr Bailey will also say the UK should not focus "just on the effects of Brexit", warning about the "broader fragmentation of the global economy".

From BBC

Ironically, the fragmentation of news delivery has also delocalized us, as events near and far flow toward us in a torrent of collapsed context.

From Slate

Related Words

• crack
• fissure
• wound