# partition

/pɑɹˈtɪʃən/ (US) · /pɑːtˈɪʃən/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/partition
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. dividing wall

noun · CEFR B2

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

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

- They put up a glass partition to create a small office in the corner of the living room.
- The office layout utilised movable partitions, allowing the team to reconfigure the workspace based on the requirements of each new project.

### 2. political division

noun · CEFR C1 · Formal

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

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

- The partition of the country led to many families being separated by the new border.
- Historians continue to debate the long-term social and economic consequences of the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent.

### 3. computing

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

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

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

- He created a separate partition on his hard drive to install a different operating system.
- The system administrator recommended creating a dedicated partition for the database to prevent log files from consuming all available disk space.

### 4. mathematics

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

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

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

- The teacher asked the students to find every possible partition of the set.
- In number theory, a partition of a positive integer is a way of writing it as a sum of positive integers.

### 5. to divide a space

verb · CEFR B2

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

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

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

## Examples

- The office uses a glass partition to create a private meeting room.
- The technician created a new partition on the hard drive to install a second operating system.
- The historical partition of the territory led to decades of diplomatic tension as families found themselves separated by a newly established international border.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.