
noun
- one of the parts into which something naturally separates or is divided; a division, portion, or section: a segment of an orange.
- Geometry.
- a part cut off from a figure, especially 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.
- 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, especially of an arthropod.
- an object, as a machine part, having the form of a segment or sector of a circle.
- Computers.
- a portion of a program, often one that can be loaded and executed independently of other portions.
- a unit of data in a database.
- an arclike support on which the typebars of a typewriter rest when not in use.
verb (used with or without object)
- to separate or divide into segments.
noun (ˈsɛɡmənt)
- maths
- a part of a line or curve between two points
- a part of a plane or solid figure cut off by an intersecting line, plane, or planes, esp one between a chord and an arc of a circle
- one of several parts or sections into which an object is divided; portion
- zoology any of the parts into which the body or appendages of an annelid or arthropod are divided
- linguistics a speech sound considered in isolation
verb (sɛɡˈmɛnt)
- to cut or divide (a whole object) into segments
n.1560s, from Latin segmentum “a strip or piece cut off, a cutting, strips of colored cloth,” from secare “to cut” (see section (n.)), with euphonious alteration of -c- to -g- before -m-. Latin segmentum was used in Medieval Latin as a geometry term, translating Greek tmema, and the word was first picked up in English in this sense. Meaning “segmental portion of anything circular” is from 1640s; general sense of “a division, section” is from 1762. v.1859, intransitive, in reference to cell division, from segment (n.). Transitive sense, “divide (something) into segments” is from 1872. Related: Segmented; segmenting. n.
- A clearly differentiated subdivision of an organism or part, such as a metamere.
- A part of an organ having independent function, supply, or drainage.
- zona
- The portion of a line between any two of its points.
- The region bounded by an arc of a circle and the chord that connects the endpoints of the arc.
- The portion of a sphere included between a pair of parallel planes that intersect it or are tangent to it.