segmentation

UK: /ˌsɛgmɛnˈteɪʃ^ən/ US: /ˌsɛgmənˈteɪʃən/ ,(seg′mən tā′shən)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

seg•men•ta•tion  (seg′mən tā′shən), n. 

1. division into segments.
2. Biology, Developmental Biology
   • the subdivision of an organism or of an organ into more or less equivalent parts.
   • cell division.

• segment + -ation 1850–55

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

segmentation / ˌsɛɡmɛnˈteɪʃən/ noun

1. the act or an instance of dividing into segments
2. another name for cleavage4
3. another name for metamerism1

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

seg•ment /n. ˈsɛgmənt; v. ˈsɛgmɛnt, sɛgˈmɛnt/  n. [countable]

1. one of the parts into which something is divided;
   a section:
   the three main segments of an insect.
2. Mathematics [Geometry.]
   • a part cut off from a figure, esp. a circular or spherical one, or a piece of a line.

v. 

3. to (cause to) separate into segments: [~ + object]
   He segmented the line into four equal parts.
   [no object]
   The pieces of an orange segment easily.

seg•men•ta•tion /ˌsɛgmənˈteɪʃən/  n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

seg•ment  (n. seg′mənt;v. seg′ment, seg ment′), n. 

1. one of the parts into which something naturally separates or is divided;
   a division, portion, or section:
   a segment of an orange.
2. Mathematics [Geom.]
   • a part cut off from a figure, esp. a circular or spherical one, by a line or plane, as a part of a circular area contained by an arc and its chord or by two parallel lines or planes.
   • Also called line segment. a finite section of a line.
3. Zoology
   • any of the rings that compose the body of an annelid or arthropod.
   • any of the discrete parts of the body of an animal, esp. of an arthropod.
4. an object, as a machine part, having the form of a segment or sector of a circle.
5. Computing
   • a portion of a program, often one that can be loaded and executed independently of other portions.
   • a unit of data in a database.
6. Computing an arclike support on which the typebars of a typewriter rest when not in use.

v.t., v.i. 

7. to separate or divide into segments.

• Latin segmentum, equivalent. to sec(āre) to cut + -mentum -ment
• 1560–70

seg•men•tar•y  (seg′mən ter′ē), adj.  seg′men•tate′, adj. 
Synonyms

• 1. See part.