partition

plural partitions

1. countableuncountableAn action which divides a thing into parts, or separates one thing from another.

   the partitions of Poland

   2 more examples

   And good from bad find no partition.

   c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]

   At the partition of Ireland in 1920, the railway mileage of the whole country stood at its maximum figure of 3,442, of which 2,668 miles were in the South, and 754 in the much smaller North.

   1958 May 28, “Decline in Irish Railway Mileage”, in Railway Magazine, page 295

2. countableuncountableA part of something that has been divided.

   the Russian Partition

3. countableuncountablemathematicsAn approach to division in which one asks what the size of each part is, rather than (as in quotition) how many parts there are.
4. countableuncountableThe division of a territory into two or more autonomous ones.

   Monarchies where partition isn't prohibited risk weakening through parcellation and civil wars between the heirs.

5. countableuncountableA vertical structure that divides a room.

   a brick partition; lath and plaster partitions

6. countableuncountableThat which divides or separates; that by which different things, or distinct parts of the same thing, are separated; boundary; dividing line or space.

   No sight could pass / Betwixt the nice partitions of the grass.

   1700, [John] Dryden, “The Flower and the Leaf: Or, The Lady in the Arbour. A Vision.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

7. countableuncountableA part divided off by walls; an apartment; a compartment.

   Lodged in a small partition.

   1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC

8. countableuncountablelawThe severance of common or undivided interests, particularly in real estate. It may be effected by consent of parties, or by compulsion of law.
9. countableuncountablecomputingA section of a hard disk separately formatted.

   The epicenter of the disturbance is the partition currently housing a [personality construct array] retrieved from Contender AI 05-032 <+> 0816.

   2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: Terminal Three (Legendary)

10. countableuncountablecomputingA division of a database or one of its constituting elements such as tables into separate independent parts.
11. countableuncountablecomputingA division of a data stream, such as a messaging queue or topic (often representing a unit of parallelism, and of fault tolerance).
12. countableuncountablemathematicsA 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).
13. countableuncountableentertainmentA musical score.

present singular third person partitions · participle present partitioning · participle past partitioned · past partitioned

1. transitiveTo divide something into parts, sections or shares.

   to partition a hard drive

2. transitiveTo divide a region or country into two or more territories with separate political status.

   Poland was progressively partitioned by Russia, Austria, and Prussia in the late 18th century.

3. transitiveTo separate or divide a room by a partition (ex. a wall), often use with off.