partition

UK: /pɑː^rˈtɪʃ^ən/ US: /pɑrˈtɪʃən, pɚ-/ ,(pär tish′ən, pər-)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

par•ti•tion /pɑrˈtɪʃən, pɚ-/   n. 

1. a division into portions;
   a separation, as of two or more things:
   [uncountable] the partition of the former Communist empire into dozens of independent states.
2. Building a wall or barrier within a space, dividing it into separate areas:
   [countable] A partition in your apartment would provide privacy.

v. [~ + object]

3. to divide into parts or portions.
4. Building to divide or separate by a partition [~ (+ off) + object]
   to partition (off) a dining area.
   [~ + object (+ off)]
   to partition the area (off).
5. Government to divide (a territory) into separate political parts:
   The defeated country was partitioned and governed by the UN.

par•ti•tioned, adj. See -par-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

par•ti•tion  (pär tish′ən, pər-), n. 

1. a division into or distribution in portions or shares.
2. a separation, as of two or more things.
3. something that separates or divides.
4. a part, division, or section.
5. Building an interior wall or barrier dividing a room, area of a building, enclosure, etc., into separate areas.
6. a septum or dissepiment, as in a plant or animal structure.
7. Law a division of property among joint owners or tenants in common or a sale of such property followed by a division of the proceeds.
8. Philosophy [Logic.] the separation of a whole into its integrant parts.
9. Mathematics
   • a mode of separating a positive whole number into a sum of positive whole numbers.
   • Mathematics the decomposition of a set into disjoint subsets whose union is the original set:
     A partition of the set
     (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) is the collection of subsets (1), (2, 3), (4), and (5).
10. Rhetoric (in a speech organized on classical principles) the second, usually brief section or part in which a speaker announces the chief lines of thought to be discussed in support of his or her theme.

v.t. 

11. to divide into parts or portions.
12. Building to divide or separate by interior walls, barriers, or the like (sometimes fol. by off):
    to partition off a dormitory into cubicles.
13. to divide (a country or territory) into separate, usually differing political entities. Cf. Balkanize. 
14. Law to divide property among several owners, either in specie or by sale and division of the proceeds.

• Latin partītiōn- (stem of partītiō) division, equivalent. to partīt(us) past participle of partīrī to divide (see party) + -iōn- -ion
• late Middle English 1400–50

par•ti′tion•a•ble, adj. 
par•ti′tion•ar′y, adj. 
par•ti′tion•er, par•ti′tion•ist, n. 
par•ti′tion•ment, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. See division. 
• 11. portion, apportion.

Antonyms

• 2. unity.
• 11. unite.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

partition / pɑːˈtɪʃən/ noun

1. a division into parts; separation
2. something that separates, such as a large screen dividing a room in two
3. a part or share
4. a division of a country into two or more separate nations
5. a division of property, esp realty, among joint owners

verb (transitive)

1. (often followed by off) to separate or apportion into sections: to partition a room off with a large screen

Etymology: 15th Century: via Old French from Latin partītiō, from partīre to divide