integration

[ in-ti-grey-shuhn ]

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 ( def 2 ).

integration

/ 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

integration

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.

Notes

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 Words From

• anti-inte·gration adjective
• de-in·te·gration noun
• nonin·te·gration noun
• proin·te·gration adjective
• self-inte·gration noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of integration¹

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 )

Example Sentences

Jokura added he was most intrigued by “the synchronized contraction of the muscles, which indicates that nerve cells fused quickly, allowing the sharing of electrical signals or action potentials. This could imply a form of shared consciousness, making this phenomenon a valuable experimental model for studying integration mechanisms.”

From Salon

“Rail Baltica will increase military mobility and allow trains to go directly from the Netherlands to Tallinn,” Cmdr Peter Nielsen, from Nato's Force Integration Unit, said.

From BBC

Former Moldovan Defence Minister Anatol Salaru said the election would decide whether Moldova would "continue the process of European integration or return to the Russia fold".

From BBC

The state mandates vertical integration of legal weed companies, meaning that all licensed companies must own their own farms, factories, and retail stores.

From Slate

And he said the integration of artificial intelligence technology has cut down on food waste and improved durability with the machine able to fix problems with its operating system or alert a customer service representative if it’s about to break down.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• assimilation