Dictionary

compartmentalization en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /(ˌ)kɒm.pɑː(ɹ)tˌmɛn.təl.aɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/ (UK)
• (US) audio
• /(ˌ)kɑm.pɑɹtˌmɛn.təl.əˈzeɪ.ʃən/ (US)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin com- Proto-Indo-European *perh₃- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *pérh₃tis? Proto-Italic *partis Latin pars Proto-Indo-European *-yétider. Latin -iō Latin partiō Latin partior Latin compartīrībor. Italian compartire Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom Proto-Italic *-mentom Latin -mentum Italian -mento Italian compartimentobor. Middle French compartimentder. English compartment English -al English compartmental Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English compartmentalize Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin -ātiōlbor. Old French -ationbor. Middle English -acioun English -ation English compartmentalization From compartmentalize + -ation.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Division into compartments or parts.
2. (broadly, countable, uncountable) The act or process of dividing a complex task or structure into smaller, often more manageable pieces.
   • In reality, the multidimensionality of language contact in multilingual environments ensures no such neat compartmentalisation. 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide, page 9:
3. (broadly, countable, uncountable) The act or process of dividing a complex task or structure into smaller, often more manageable pieces. ▸ A defense mechanism in which thoughts and feelings that seem to conflict are kept separated or isolated from each other in the mind.
   • Apart from language, the most sophisticated thing that almost all human beings do every day is compartmentalisation: the selective blocking-out of bad events, whether current or historic, whether personal or global. 2025 December 20, Janan Ganesh, “The case for denial”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 20:
4. (broadly, countable, uncountable) The act or process of dividing a complex task or structure into smaller, often more manageable pieces. ▸ The act of dividing complex code into libraries with common functionality to help make the process of programming more manageable and reusable.
5. (broadly, countable, uncountable) The act or process of dividing a complex task or structure into smaller, often more manageable pieces. ▸ The dissemination of information and knowledge between different people or organisations on a need-to-know basis, so as to reduce the risk of espionage should one person or organisation be compromised externally.

Forms

Antonyms

decompartmentalization

Deriveds

miscompartmentalization · microcompartmentalization · subcompartmentalization · overcompartmentalization · recompartmentalization

Translations (8)

fr compartimentation (dividing tasks into smaller pieces) · it compartimentalizzazione (dividing tasks into smaller pieces) · es compartimentaje (dividing tasks into smaller pieces) · es compartimentación (dividing tasks into smaller pieces) · ca compartimentació (dividing tasks into smaller pieces) · nl compartimentering (dividing tasks into smaller pieces) · de Untergliederung (dividing tasks into smaller pieces) · de Unterteilung (dividing tasks into smaller pieces)