partition

[ pahr-tish-uhn, per- ]

noun

1. a division into or distribution in portions or shares:

   Upon the magnate's death, the family began the complicated partition of his possessions.

2. a separation, as of two or more things:

   The Renaissance was marked by the partition of religion and philosophy.

   Antonyms: unity

3. something that separates or divides:

   Is the partition between menswear and womenswear finally falling in the fashion industry?

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

   There was a sliding, floor-to-ceiling partition between the bedroom and the living area.

5. a part, division, or section:

   One partition of the barn was filled with hay, and he burrowed into it to hide.

6. a septum or dissepiment, as in a plant or animal structure.
7. 1. the division of a country or territory into separate, usually differing political entities:

      Movement of goods and labor was fairly free between the UK and Ireland after partition—until the Troubles.

   2. Usually Par·ti·tion. the division of a large part of the Indian subcontinent into India and Pakistan in 1947:

      A decade after Partition, many families were still choosing to migrate to Pakistan.

8. 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.
9. Computers. a section of storage space on a hard disk or device, devoted to a particular type of information and read and written to by the operating system or systems as if it were a separate disk or device:

   This suite of tools allows you to maximize disk space by creating, resizing, moving, merging, and splitting partitions without losing data.

10. Logic. the act of analyzing a whole by breaking it down into its constituent parts.
11. 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).

12. 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 their theme.

verb (used with object)

1. to divide into parts, sections, or portions:

   In Western culture, our lives tend to be partitioned into distinct domains, making it almost impossible to view life as a whole.

   Synonyms: apportion, portion

   Antonyms: unite

2. to divide or separate by interior walls, barriers, or the like (sometimes followed by off ):

   They partitioned off a dormitory into cubicles.

3. to divide (a country or territory) into separate, usually differing political entities: Compare Balkanize ( def 1 ).

   The Geneva Accord partitioned Vietnam at the 17th parallel, with a Communist-led North and the Republic of Vietnam in the South.

4. Law. to divide property among several owners, either in specie or by sale and division of the proceeds.
5. Computers. to divide (a hard disk or the data stored in it) into sections for different kinds of information, to be read and written to by the operating system or systems as if each section were a separate disk or device:

   I partitioned the drive, storing my media library separately from my operating system and games.

partition

/ pɑːˈtɪʃən /

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

verb

1. often foll by off to separate or apportion into sections

   to 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

partition

1. 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.

Derived Forms

• parˈtitioner, noun

Other Words From

• par·ti·tion·a·ble adjective
• par·ti·tion·ar·y adjective
• par·ti·tion·er par·ti·tion·ist noun
• par·ti·tion·ment noun
• pre·par·ti·tion noun verb (used with object)
• sub·par·ti·tion noun
• sub·par·ti·tioned adjective
• sub·par·ti·tion·ment noun
• un·par·ti·tioned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of partition¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English from Latin partītiōn- (stem of partītiō ) “division,” equivalent to partīt(us) past participle of partīrī “to divide” ( party ) + -iōn- -ion

Word History and Origins

Origin of partition¹

C15: via Old French from Latin partītiō, from partīre to divide

Synonym Study

See division.

Example Sentences

When she returned to the changing room at Warwick, another man riding in the same race jumped over a partition to sexually assault her.

From BBC

A glass partition was installed to separate kitchen staff from customers.

From Los Angeles Times

In later life he expressed misgivings about his role in the crisis, concluding that he had been manipulated into a compromise he never wanted: the eventual partition of Ireland and the creation of the Protestant-ruled mini-province of Northern Ireland, whose status has remained unsettled ever since.

From Salon

When bloody Hindu-Muslim riots gripped Calcutta during partition in 1947, tram workers patrolled the city in empty trams to help restore normalcy.

From BBC

Even though Abrams performed the song behind a semi-transparent partition, her stage presence was palpable as her silhouette swayed with the rhythm.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• subdivide