What does "segment" mean?

1. (a physical part) one of the parts that something naturally separates into, like a slice of fruit. 2. (a group or section) a part of a larger group of people or a market. 3. (media/broadcast) a short part of a TV or radio show about a specific topic. 4. (travel/itinerary) one part of a long journey, like a single flight. 5. (geometry) a part of a line or a circle cut off by a line. 6. (to divide) to divide something into smaller parts or groups.

segment

n. · v.

US //ˈsɛɡmənt// seg·ment

1 a physical part (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

one of the parts that something naturally separates into, like a slice of fruit.

one of the constituent parts into which a body or object naturally separates or is divided.

Example

She peeled the orange and gave a small segment to her daughter.

Example

The insect's body is divided into several distinct segments, each protected by a hard outer shell.
- whole
2 a group or section (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Academic

a part of a larger group of people or a market.

a specific portion of a population or market that shares common characteristics.

Example

The company is trying to reach a younger segment of the market.

Example

The marketing strategy specifically targets the high-income segment of the population living in urban areas.

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3 media/broadcast (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

a short part of a TV or radio show about a specific topic.

a self-contained part of a broadcast programme devoted to a particular subject or interview.

Example

The news included a short segment about the local flower show.

Example

The morning show featured a ten-minute segment on sustainable gardening before moving to the weather report.
4 travel/itinerary (n.)
C1 Advanced Technical Travel

one part of a long journey, like a single flight.

a portion of an itinerary, typically representing a single flight or train journey between two cities.

Example

The first segment of our trip is a three-hour flight to Paris.

Example

The business traveller requested a change to the final segment of his multi-city itinerary due to a scheduling conflict.
- leg
- stage
5 geometry (n.)
C1 Advanced Technical Math

a part of a line or a circle cut off by a line.

a part of a line between two points, or a part of a circle cut off by a chord.

Example

The teacher asked the students to measure the length of the line segment.

Example

The area of the circular segment can be calculated by subtracting the area of the triangle from the area of the sector.
- interval
6 to divide (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Academic

to divide something into smaller parts or groups.

to divide or partition a whole into separate sections or categories.

Example

The software allows you to segment your email list by location.

Example

The researchers decided to segment the data by age group to see if there were significant differences in the results.
- unify
- combine

Origin

From Latin segmentum (“a piece cut off, a strip, segment of the earth, a strip of tinsel”), from secāre (“to cut”).