fragmentation

1 of 2

noun

frag·​men·​ta·​tion ˌfrag-mən-ˈtā-shən 

-ˌmen-

1

: the act or process of fragmenting or making fragmentary

2

: the state of being fragmented or fragmentary

fragmentate

ˈfrag-mən-ˌtāt 

verb

fragmentate

2 of 2

verb

frag·​men·​tate -ˌtāt 

-ed/-ing/-s

: to break into pieces especially explosively : fractionate, fragmentize

they were sure the master rods on the engines were all fragmentating

—David Beaty

permits the … artist to fragmentate a single small idea into a limitless string of daily episodes

—C. W. Morton

Examples of fragmentation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The Interoperability Parallel That Matters The last time commerce infrastructure faced this level of fragmentation was the transition from in-store to online retail in the late 1990s. —Josipa Majic Predin, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026

Darren McKnight, a senior technical fellow at the orbital intelligence company LeoLabs, told Ars the fragmentation event likely generated 100 to 150 pieces of debris. —Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 19 June 2026

This specialized warhead provides a combat capability, combining anti-personnel fragmentation effects with deep anti-armor penetration. —Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 17 June 2026

The Iran war has accelerated the fragmentation of the Middle East, analysts wrote. —Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 17 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

fragment entry 2 + -ation, probably after French fragmentation

Verb

back-formation from fragmentation

First Known Use

Noun

1881, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing fragmentation

• fragmentation bomb
• fragmentation grenade

Rhymes for fragmentation

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation