Etymology Recorded c.1430, "division into shares, distinction," from Middle English particioun, from Old French particion (modern partition), from Latin partitio, partitionem (“division, portion”), from partitus, the past participle of partire (“to split (up), part(ition)”).
An action which divides a thing into parts, or separates one thing from another.
the partitions of Poland
And good from bad find no partition.c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
1 more example
At the partition of Ireland in 1920, the railway mileage of the whole country stood at its maximum figure of 3,442, of which 2,668 miles were in the South, and 754 in the much smaller North.1958 May 23, “Decline in Irish Railway Mileage”, in Railway Magazine, page 295:
2
A part of something that has been divided.
the Russian Partition
3
Mathematics, Sciences An approach to division in which one asks what the size of each part is, rather than (as in quotition) how many parts there are.
4
The division of a territory into two or more autonomous ones.
Monarchies where partition isn't prohibited risk weakening through parcellation and civil wars between the heirs.
5
A vertical structure that divides a room.
a brick partition; lath and plaster partitions
6
That which divides or separates; that by which different things, or distinct parts of the same thing, are separated; boundary; dividing line or space.
No sight could pass / Betwixt the nice partitions of the grass.1700, [John] Dryden, “The Flower and the Leaf: Or, The Lady in the Arbour. A Vision.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
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A part divided off by walls; an apartment; a compartment.
Lodged in a small partition.1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
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Law The severance of common or undivided interests, particularly in real estate. It may be effected by consent of parties, or by compulsion of law.
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Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A section of a hard disk separately formatted.
The epicenter of the disturbance is the partition currently housing a [personality construct array] retrieved from Contender AI 05-032 <+> 0816.2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: Terminal Three (Legendary):
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Computing, Databases, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A division of a database or one of its constituting elements such as tables into separate independent parts.
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Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A division of a data stream, such as a messaging queue or topic (often representing a unit of parallelism, and of fault tolerance).
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Mathematics, Sciences, Set theory A collection of non-empty, disjoint subsets of a set whose union is the set itself (i.e. all elements of the set are contained in exactly one of the subsets).
Etymology Recorded c.1430, "division into shares, distinction," from Middle English particioun, from Old French particion (modern partition), from Latin partitio, partitionem (“division, portion”), from partitus, the past participle of partire (“to split (up), part(ition)”).
1
To divide something into parts, sections or shares.
to partition a hard drive
2
To divide a region or country into two or more territories with separate political status.
Poland was progressively partitioned by Russia, Austria, and Prussia in the late 18th century.
3
To separate or divide a room by a partition (ex. a wall), often use with off.