disintegration
n.the process of breaking into small pieces or falling apart completely. It can describe a physical object breaking or a group of people losing their connection.
n.the process of losing cohesion or strength; the breaking down of a whole into constituent parts or fragments. In a geological context, refers to the mechanical weathering of rock into smaller particles without chemical change.
“The old building is in a state of total disintegration.”
“Geologists observed the rapid disintegration of the cliff face due to the constant cycle of freezing and thawing.”
“The political scientist argued that the sudden disintegration of the empire was caused by internal corruption rather than external military pressure.”
Often used with the preposition 'of' to identify the entity that is breaking apart.
“Engineers expected the ship’s life to end with a fiery disintegration after toppling over, just as past Starships have done following splashdown.”
“But the genocidal wars that accompanied Yugoslavia’s disintegration in the early 1990s demonstrated that the idea of a single Yugoslav nation lacked deep foundations.”
From disintegrate + -ion or dis- + integration.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.