segmentation

segmentation (ˌsɛɡmɛnˈteɪʃən)
—n
1.	the act or an instance of dividing into segments
2.	embryol another name for cleavage
3.	zoology another name for metamerism

segmentation seg·men·ta·tion (sěg'mən-tā'shən, -měn-)
n.
See cleavage.

segmentation

fault n. [Unix]
1. [techspeak] An error in which a running program attempts to access memory not allocated to it and core dumps with a segmentation violation error. This is often caused by improper usage of pointers in the source code, dereferencing a null pointer, or (in C) inadvertently using a non-pointer variable as a pointer. The classic example is:

int i; scanf ("%d", i); /* should have used &i */
2. To lose a train of thought or a line of reasoning. Also uttered as an exclamation at the point of befuddlement.

segmentation definition

networking
(Or "segmentation and reassembly", SAR) Breaking an arbitrary size packet into smaller pieces at the transmitter. This may be necessary because of restrictions in the communications channel or to reduce latency. The pieces are joined back together in the right order at the receiver ("reassembly"). Segmentation may be performed by a router when routing a packet to a network with a smaller maximum packet size.
The term "segmentation" is used in ATM, in TCP/IP, it is called "fragmentation" an is performed at the IP layer before the "fragments" are passed to the transport layer.
See for example ATM forum UNI 4.0 specification.
[Better reasons?]
(1999-06-14)