Partition
/pɑːˈtɪʃən/
Definitions
2 meaningsThe action of dividing or the state of being divided into parts; a structure dividing a space.
/pɑːˈtɪʃən/
A division into parts or sections.
The map showed a partition of the country into different regions.
💡 Simply: Imagine you have a big room, and you want to create smaller rooms inside it. A partition is like a wall that you build to divide the space. For example, in an office, they might use partitions to separate different workspaces.
👶 For kids: A partition is like a wall that makes one big space into smaller spaces.
More Examples
The office workers worked in individual cubicles separated by partitions.
The committee decided on a fair partition of the funds.
The partition of the room created a private space for the client.
How It's Used
"The judge ordered the partition of the estate among the heirs."
"The office was divided into cubicles using partitions."
To divide something into parts or sections.
/pɑːˈtɪʃən/
To divide into parts.
The historian discussed how the empire was partitioned among various powers.
💡 Simply: Think about sharing a pizza. To partition the pizza means to divide it among everyone so that everyone gets an equal slice. For example, a country might be partitioned, meaning divided, by another country after a war.
👶 For kids: To partition something means to cut it into pieces.
More Examples
The program allows you to partition the hard drive for different operating systems.
They decided to partition the land to give each family a share.
The lawyers agreed to partition the assets fairly during the divorce settlement.
How It's Used
"The country was partitioned after the war."
"The hard drive was partitioned into different drives."
Synonyms
Idioms & expressions
partition wall
A non-load-bearing wall used to divide a space internally.
"The office renovation included the construction of several partition walls."
partition key
A field used to divide data in a database into logical groups.
"The database uses the customer ID as the partition key."
From Middle English, from Old French *particion* and from Latin *partitionem* (nominative *partitio*) 'division, distribution', from *partiri* 'to share, divide'.
The word 'partition' has been used in legal and political contexts for centuries, often referring to the division of territories or assets.
Memory tip
Think of a pizza – you *partition* it into slices.