What does "partition" mean?

1. (dividing wall) a thin wall or screen that divides a room into smaller areas. 2. (political division) the act of dividing a country into two or more separate nations. 3. (computing) a separate section of a computer's hard drive that acts like a different disk. 4. (mathematics) a way of splitting a set of numbers into smaller groups where every number belongs to exactly one group. 5. (to divide a space) to divide a room or area into smaller parts using a wall or screen.

How do you use "partition"?

Often used as 'partition off' when referring to physical space.

partition

n. · v.

US //pɑɹˈtɪʃən// UK //pɑːtˈɪʃən// par·ti·tion

1 dividing wall (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

a thin wall or screen that divides a room into smaller areas.

a non-load-bearing interior wall or screen used to divide a larger space into smaller compartments.

Example

They put up a glass partition to create a small office in the corner of the living room.

Example

The office layout utilised movable partitions, allowing the team to reconfigure the workspace based on the requirements of each new project.
2 political division (n.)
C1 Advanced Formal

the act of dividing a country into two or more separate nations.

the geopolitical division of a territory into two or more autonomous or independent political entities.

Example

The partition of the country led to many families being separated by the new border.

Example

Historians continue to debate the long-term social and economic consequences of the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent.
- unification
- merger

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3 computing (n.)
C1 Advanced Technical Computing

a separate section of a computer's hard drive that acts like a different disk.

a logical division of a hard disk drive or database into distinct, independent sections.

Example

He created a separate partition on his hard drive to install a different operating system.

Example

The system administrator recommended creating a dedicated partition for the database to prevent log files from consuming all available disk space.
4 mathematics (n.)
C2 Proficiency Technical Math

a way of splitting a set of numbers into smaller groups where every number belongs to exactly one group.

a decomposition of a set into non-empty, disjoint subsets whose union is the original set.

Example

The teacher asked the students to find every possible partition of the set.

Example

In number theory, a partition of a positive integer is a way of writing it as a sum of positive integers.
- decomposition
- set
5 to divide a space (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

to divide a room or area into smaller parts using a wall or screen.

to divide a space or entity into distinct parts; frequently used with the particle 'off'.

Example

We decided to partition off a small area of the basement to use as a gym.

Example

The builders were instructed to partition the warehouse into several smaller units suitable for light industrial use.

Usage

Often used as 'partition off' when referring to physical space.
- join
- combine

Origin

Recorded c.1430, "division into shares, distinction," from Middle English particioun, from Old French particion (modern partition), from Latin partitio, partitionem (“division, portion”), from partitus, the past participle of partire (“to split (up), part(ition)”).