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fragment - 7 dictionary results

frag⋅ment

[n. frag-muhnt; v. frag-muhnt, -ment, frag-ment]
–noun
1. a part broken off or detached: scattered fragments of the broken vase.
2. an isolated, unfinished, or incomplete part: She played a fragment of her latest composition.
3. an odd piece, bit, or scrap.
–verb (used without object)
4. to collapse or break into fragments; disintegrate: The chair fragmented under his weight.
–verb (used with object)
5. to break (something) into pieces or fragments; cause to disintegrate: Outside influences soon fragmented the Mayan culture.
6. to divide into fragments; disunify.

Origin:
1375–1425; late ME < L fragmentum a broken piece, remnant, equiv. to frag- (s. of frangere to break ) + -mentum -ment


1–3. See part.
frag·ment   (frāg'mənt)   
n.  
  1. A small part broken off or detached.
  2. An incomplete or isolated portion; a bit: overheard fragments of their conversation; extant fragments of an old manuscript.
  3. Grammar A sentence fragment.
v.   (-měnt') frag·ment·ed, frag·ment·ing, frag·ments

v.   tr.
To break or separate (something) into fragments.
v.   intr.
To become broken into fragments: After the election, the coalition fragmented.

[Middle English, from Latin fragmentum, from frangere, frag-, to break; see bhreg- in Indo-European roots.]

Fragment

Frag"ment\, n. [L. fragmentum, fr. frangere to break: cf. F. fragment. See Break, v. t.] A part broken off; a small, detached portion; an imperfect part; as, a fragment of an ancient writing.

Gather up the fragments that remain. --John vi. 12.
Language Translation for : fragment
Spanish: fragmento, pedazo, trozo,
German: das Bruchstück,
Japanese: 破片

fragment  (n.)
1531, from L. fragmentum "a fragment, remnant," from root of frangere "to break." The verb is first recorded 1818 in Keats' "Endymion." The verb frag is first attested 1970 in U.S. military slang, from fragmentation grenade (1918).
"Fragging is a macabre ritual of Vietnam in which American enlisted men attempt to murder their superiors. The word comes from the nickname for hand grenades, a weapon popular with enlisted men because the evidence is destroyed with the consummation of the crime." ["Saturday Review," Jan. 8, 1972]

Main Entry: frag·ment
Pronunciation: 'frag-m&nt
Function: noun
: a part broken off or detached

fragment frag·ment (frāg'mənt)
n.

  1. A small part broken off or detached.
  2. An incomplete or isolated portion; a bit.
v. frag·ment·ed, frag·ment·ing, frag·ments (frāg'měnt')
To break or separate into fragments.

fragment
fragmentation

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