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Fragment Very Common

Origin: Latin suffix -ment

Fragment has 6 different meanings across 2 categories:

Noun · Verb

Definitions
Noun
1

a piece broken off or cut off of something else

"a fragment of rock"

2

a broken piece of a brittle artifact

"The archaeologist carefully brushed away the soil to reveal a tiny fragment of the ancient ceramic bowl."

3

an incomplete piece

"fragments of a play"

4

A part broken off; a small, detached portion; an imperfect part, either physically or not

"The ancient vase had survived centuries until it shattered into countless fragile fragments on the floor."

In plain English: A fragment is an incomplete part of something that has been broken off from the whole.

"The old vase broke into many sharp fragments on the floor."

Usage: Use fragment to describe any piece that has been separated from a larger whole, whether it is a physical shard of glass or a grammatical clause missing its subject. Avoid confusing this noun with the verb form when you simply need to refer to the broken portion itself rather than the act of breaking.

Verb
1

break or cause to break into pieces

"The plate fragmented"

2

To break apart.

"The explosion caused the glass window to fragment into thousands of sharp pieces."

Example Sentences
"The old vase broke into many sharp fragments on the floor." noun
"She dropped a small fragment of glass on the floor while cleaning up." noun
"The broken cookie crumbled into tiny fragments that scattered across the table." noun
"I noticed a strange metal fragment sticking out from the old engine block." noun
See Also
fragmental piece splinter magnetic poetry microsnapwell minibody unfragmented ribozyme
Related Terms
fragmental piece splinter magnetic poetry microsnapwell minibody unfragmented ribozyme shell cantlet sliver partial corannulene refragment mass spectrometry fragmentize tumstatin sequestrum brash smithereen
Broader Terms (hypernyms)
part piece break
Narrower Terms (hyponyms)
bit brickbat cinder clast ember filing paring restriction fragment scraping spall spark potsherd snatch atomize grind pound sunder splinter rag crumb brecciate crush grate

Origin

The word entered English from the Old French fragmente, which came directly from the Latin for "a broken piece." It originally described a small part of something that had been fractured or shattered.

Rhyming Words
ent bent ment went sent vent pent hent cent fent dent tent kent gent rent lent djent ament seent brent
Compare
Fragment vs