Partition
WordNet
noun
(1) The act of dividing or partitioning; separation by the creation of a boundary that divides or keeps apart
(2) A vertical structure that divides or separates (as a wall divides one room from another)
(3) (computer science) the part of a hard disk that is dedicated to a particular operating system or application and accessed as a single unit
verb
(4) Separate or apportion into sections
"Partition a room off"
(5) Divide into parts, pieces, or sections
"The Arab peninsula was partitioned by the British"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
Recorded c.1430, "division into shares, distinction," from particion (modern partition), from partitio "division, portion", from partitus, the past participle of partire "to split (up), part(ition)"
Noun
- An action which divides a thing into parts, or separates one thing from another
- A part of something that had been divided, each of its results.
- The division of a territory into two or more autonomous ones.
- Monarchies where partition isn't prohibited risk weakening trough parcellation and civil wars between the heirs
- A vertical structure that divides a room.
- A section of a hard disk separately formatted.
- A collection of non-empty, disjoint subsets of a set whose union is the set itself (i.e. all elements of the set are contained in exactly one of the subsets).
Usage notes
The elements of the collection are sometimes called the blocks or parts of the partition.Verb
- To divide something into parts, sections or shares
- To divide a region or country into two or more territories with separate political status
- To separate or divide a room by a partition (ex. a wall), often use with off