Fragmented

How to spell fragmented

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce fragmented

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does fragmented mean?

1. adjectiveBroken up or divided into separate, disconnected parts that no longer form a whole.
2. verbBroke or became broken into separate pieces or factions.

Fragmented in a sentence

• adjective

  The report described a fragmented market with dozens of small competitors.

• verb

  The once-united party fragmented into rival groups after the election.

• adjective

  Her sleep was so fragmented that she woke exhausted every morning.

• verb

  The meteor fragmented as it entered the atmosphere.

Where does fragmented come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb frangere, which literally meant 'to break' or 'to shatter'. From its past participle came fragmentum, meaning 'a piece broken off', and that noun passed into English as 'fragment' during the 1400s. The verb 'to fragment' was built later from the noun, and 'fragmented' is simply its past participle pressed into service as an adjective describing something broken into disconnected pieces. The same frangere root survives in a whole family of English words including 'fracture', 'fraction', 'fragile', and 'frail', all carrying that sense of breaking. Knowing the root frag-, the same chunk found in 'fragile', is a useful anchor for keeping the spelling steady, since the rest follows the regular -ment plus -ed pattern.

How the word is built

• frag- (from Latin frangere: to break)
• -ment (result noun)
• -ed (adjective/past-tense suffix)