▪ I. partition, n.
(pəˈtɪʃən, pɑː-)
Also 5–6 per-.
[a. F. partition (Oresme, 14th c.), in 12th c. particion, ad. L. partītiōn-em, from partīre to part.]
1. a. The action of parting or dividing into parts; the fact of being so divided; division; esp. the division of a country into two or more nations; spec. (a) the division of Ireland into Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic; (b) the division of the Indian sub-continent into India and Pakistan in 1947. Hence parˈtitionist, one who advocates partition; also as adj.
| 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. i. (Percy Soc.) 5 An ymage..With two fayre handes stretched out along, Unto two hye wayes there in particion. 1552 Huloet, Deuision or particion of a praye or spoyle in warre. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 28 Some..ioynted or deuided as the Reede: some without any such particion. 1571 Digges Pantom. ii. xiv. O j, Certayne questions for the partition and diuision of grounde. 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Creéncha, the partition of the haire, comæ diuisio. c 1620 A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 16 Quhen a word fales to be divyded at the end of a lyne, the partition must be made at the end of a syllab. 1741 Middleton Cicero xi. II. 436 The partition of the Empire. 1855 Bain Senses & Int. ii. i. §8 (1864) 88 The threefold partition of mind into Feeling, Volition, and Intellect. 1919 Times 25 Jan. 9/5 (headline) Irish Unionist breach. New League against Partition. Ibid. 27 Jan. 9/4 The principles of the [Anti-Partition] League were defined as follows:—To maintain the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland, to secure Ireland against partition, and to safeguard the liberties and interests of Irish Unionists. 1919 P. S. O'Hegarty Ulster 1 In North Down the Independent vote was counted as Partitionist. 1921 Spectator 4 June 713/2 Partition has come to be reckoned the unforgivable sin by the Sinn Feiners. The worst thing a man can be called is a partitionist. 1938 Ann. Reg. 1937 256 The World Zionist Executive, sitting in Jerusalem, formally resolved that the Zionist Organization would resist any attempt to curtail the rights of the Jews as defined in the Mandate, either by Partition or any other measure. 1941 K. Chandra Tragedy of Jinnah xv. 220 Many schemes of partition of India on communal basis [sic] were put forward by a few fanatics, off and on. 1945 Ann. Reg. 1944 164 This weakening of Mr. Gandhi's hitherto uncompromising opposition to partition was denounced by the Hindu Mahasabha and the Sikhs and caused much misgiving in Congress circles. 1948 Ann. Reg. 1947 153 The Muslims having voted for partition of India, the Hindus and Sikhs then voted for the partition of two Provinces, and the frontiers of Pakistan were thus drawn in the midst of the Punjab and Bengal. 1955 R. P. Jhabvala To whom she Will vi. 43 Hari Sahni's family..were Punjabi Indians who in 1947, at the time of Partition, had had to leave their native Lahore. 1959 P. Colum Arthur Griffith ii. iv. 121 The Irish people were now shown that this claim would be countered by a move for Partition. 1967 P. M. Hubbard Custom of Country (1969) vii. 81, I agreed I was English, and he said, ‘Ah, then you will have been a government servant out here before Partition.’ 1971 R. Dentry Encounter at Kharmel iii. 58 There hasn't been a tribal rising..since the Partition troubles died down. 1972 A. Boyd Brian Faulkner i. 12 The issue, as in all previous elections, was partition. 1973 Archivum Linguisticum IV. 42 In the Indo-Pakistan sub⁓continent before partition..Delhi and Lucknow were recognized as the places where ‘they spoke the best Urdu’. 1975 Guardian 24 Feb. 9/6 Just as in every other country that has fallen for the silly expedient of Partition—Ireland, Korea, Vietnam— nobody profits but the politicians. |
b. Division into shares or portions; distribution.
| c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 170 Al tho that make suche a particioune Amonge theyr subjettis. 1580 Sidney Ps. xxii. xi, Of my poore weedes they do partition make. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxii. 71 He spent out of the general booty, before the partitions were made. 1751 Affect. Narr. of Wager 102 A final Partition was this Day made of the remaining Flour. 1799 W. Tooke View Russian Emp. I. 327 At the first partition of Poland in 1773. a 1832 Mackintosh Fr. War of 1793 Wks. 1846 III. 179 We cannot..imagine that a greater evil could befall the human race than the partition of Europe among the spoilers of Poland. 1901 N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 275 The partition of sovereignty between..the State governments that the people created, and the government of the United States. |
c. fig. (
Cf. 2 Tim. ii. 15.)
| 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. i. 7 It is a safe rule in the partition of holy Scripture, not to churne the sincere milk thereof till butter come. 1684 Willard Mercy Magn. 9 We may briefly take partition of this parable. |
d. Physical Chem. The distribution of a solute between two immiscible or slightly miscible solvents in contact with one another, in accordance with its differing solubility in each.
Cf. partition coefficient (sense 10).
| 1861 Nat. Philos. for Use of Schools: Chem. & Chemical Analysis ii. 44 Partition of Elements.—Affinities are sometimes modified by circumstances which might not be supposed likely to produce any effect: thus, the more difficult solubility of one of the compounds present in a solution. 1898 C. L. Speyers Text-bk. Physical Chem. v. 119 (heading) Partition of substance between two solvents. 1950 F. Haurowitz Chem. & Biol. Proteins iii. 21 Synge..has made use of the partition of amino acids between water and..organic solvents which are immiscible with but partly soluble in water. 1970 Sherma & Zweig in G. Zweig et al. Paper Chromatogr. & Electrophoresis (1971) II. ii. 11 The paper..acts by a combination of partition, adsorption, and ion exchange. |
2. The action of parting or separating two or more persons or things; the fact or condition of being separated; separation, division.
| 1530 Palsgr. 165 Separaisón, a particion. 1562 Turner Baths 1 b, We make no partition betwen y⊇ men and the weomen whilse they are in bathing. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. i. vi. 38 Can we not Partition make..Twixt faire, and foule? 1766 Fordyce Serm. Yng. Wom. (1767) II. xiii. 233 Every wall of partition..it throws down. 1872 Blackie Lays Highl. 104 Walls of ancient, harsh partition 'Twixt the people, and the crown. |
3. Something that separates (either a material structure, or more rarely an immaterial boundary or dividing line);
esp. that which separates one part of a space from another;
e.g. a structure separating rooms or parts of a room (
esp. when of slighter nature than a wall proper); a septum or dissepiment in a plant or animal body; etc.
| 1545 Elyot, Dissepimentum, the particion in a wall nutte, wherwith the kernell is deuided. 1571 Digges Pantom. ii. xv. O j b, A hedge dyke or other partition runnyng from..the fountayne to..the marke espyed. 1617 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 205 All the particians shall bee maide with good and sufficient groundesills. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. i. 164 Great wits are sure to madness near allied, And thin partitions do their bounds divide. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 82 The High Altar is divided from the rest of the Church by a wooden partition with three doors in it. 1763 Bickerstaff Love in Village 56 Did I not overhear your scheme..through the partition? 1844 Ld. Brougham A. Lunel I. iii. 85 The thin partition that divided his mirth and good humour from his anger. 1846 P. Parley's Ann. VII. 235 One shaft divided by a brattice or partition in two. 1878 Macalister Vertebr. & Inv. 46 The red organ-pipe coral of the Indian Ocean, with its table-like partitions and its green polyps. 1892 J. A. Thomson Outl. Zool. 138 A number of partitions or mesenteries extend from the body-wall towards this gullet. Some of the partitions are ‘complete’. |
4. Each of the parts into which any whole is divided, as by boundaries or lines; a portion, part, division, section.
a. gen. (Formerly applied to the divisions of a book or literary work.) Now
rare.
| 1561 T. Norton tr. Calvin's Inst. i. xiii. (1634) 56 He..affirmeth, that there be part, and partitions in the essence of God, of which every portion is God. 1571 (title) Toxophilus, The Schole, or partitions of shooting contayned in ij bookes written by Roger Ascham. 1608 R. Norton tr. Stevin's Disme D iv, The Yard, Ell, &c., with his tenne partitions. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. i. iii. iv. (1651) 36 Of this last..I will speak..in my third Partition. 1727 Pope, etc. Art of Sinking 115 The vituperative partition will as easily be replenished. a 1854 Reed Lect. Eng. Lit. vii. (1878) 235 In each partition of our earth's time. |
b. One of a number of actual superficial or cubic spaces into which an object is divided; a compartment; a pane, a panel; a pocket (of a bag); an apartment, chamber, room.
| 1578 T. N. tr. Conq. W. Ind. 66 Of a faire and straunge workemanshippe inwardes, with many great partitions, some full of pottes of honey, and maiz. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 412 The Hold was divided in many small Partitions. 1756 F. Brooke Old Maid No. 37 (1764) 300 The temple was divided into two noble partitions. 1783 Wesley Wks. (1872) IV. 250 The garden before the house was in three partitions. 1900 G. Swift Somerley 58 She walked straight up to the window, which was divided into three partitions. |
5. Law. A division of real property,
esp. of lands, between joint-tenants, tenants in common, or coparceners, made either by private agreement, a judicial decree, or private act of parliament, by which their co-tenancy or co-ownership is abolished and their individual interests in the land are separated; a division into severalty.
| 1474 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 100/1 That the seid Dukes and their seid wyfes..may make particion of all the premisses and every part therof [the premisses were real estate]. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 13 Preamble, Particion was made be twyne theyme of the sayd Maners. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5) s.v., Partition of Lands descended by the Common Law, or by Custom among Coheirs or Parceners. 1741 T. Robinson Gavelkind i. 7 To shew an actual partition of the Lands. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 521 The third mode of voluntary partition is, where the eldest makes the division of the lands; in which case she shall choose last. 1845 Act 8 & 9 Vict. c. 106 §3 A partition and an exchange of any tenements or hereditaments, not being copyhold..shall also be void at law, unless made by deed. |
6. a. Logic. Analysis by systematic separation of the integrant parts of a thing; enumeration of parts. (Distinguished from
division: see
division 6.)
| 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 15 A manne is diuided into bodie and soule, and this kinde of diuidyng is properlie called a partition. 1697 tr. Burgersdicius his Logic ii. v. 17 When Man or Human Body is divided into its three Regions and Limbs; or the Year into 12 Months... It is a Definition of the Integrate, or Mathematical, and is called Partition. 1725 Watts Logic i. vi. §8. 1866 Fowler Elem. Deduct. Logic viii. (1887) 59 As a test of a logical division..the term divided must be predicable of each dividing member... In this manner it is distinguished from partition of a whole into its parts. 1870 Jevons Logic xii. 108 Logical division must not be confused with physical division or Partition. |
b. Math. A collection of non-empty subsets of a given set such that each element of the latter is a member of exactly one of the subsets; a way of dividing a set thus.
| 1905 J. Pierpont Lect. Theory Functions Real Variables I. ii. 82 Let α be any number of ℜ; we can use it to throw all numbers of ℜ into two classes A, B. In A we put all numbers α. The number α we may put in A or B. This division of the numbers of ℜ into two classes we call a partition. 1937 Michell & Belz Elem. Math. Analysis II. xxi. 1051 The notion of partitions of the rationals forms the basis of Dedekind's treatment of real numbers. 1968 E. T. Copson Metric Spaces i. 12 If ∼ is an equivalence relation on a set E, two equivalence classes are either identical or have no common member; the collection of all equivalence classes is a partition of E. 1972 A. G. Howson Handbk. Terms Algebra & Anal. xxiv. 118 A finite set of points P = {ob}a0,{ddd}, an{cb} satisfying the above requirements, i.e. a = a0 1 2 n = b, is known as a partition of the interval {slle} a, b ⩾. |
7. Math. † a. = division 5 a.
Obs.| 1571 Digges Pantom. i. xii. D iij b, Augment by the parts, and make particion by 12. 1709–29 V. Mandey Syst. Math., Arith. 3 Division, or Partition, is the finding of a Number which shews..how often the Number Dividing..is contained in the Dividend. |
b. Any one of the ways of expressing a number as a sum of positive integers (
e.g. the partitions of 4 are 1 + 1 + 1 + 1, 1 + 1 + 2, 1 + 3, 2 + 2).
| 1855 Cayley Coll. Math. Papers II. 235 (heading) Researches on the Partition of Numbers. 1859 Sylvester (title) Lectures on the Partitions of Numbers, delivered at King's College, London. |
8. Mus. An arrangement of the several parts of a composition one above another on the same stave or set of staves; a score. Now
rare or
Obs.| 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 97 Here it is set downe in partition, because you should the more easilie perceiue the conueiance of the parts. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Partition, in music, the disposition of the several parts of a song, set on the same leaf; so as upon the uppermost ranges of lines are found the treble; in another the bass [etc.]. 1891 Daily News 24 Oct. 5/4 Here are to be found original scores and partitions, MSS. interesting not only to the musician but to the collector of autographs. |
9. Her. a. The division of a shield into two parts of different tinctures by one of the dividing lines (see
parted,
party a.). ?
Obs. † b. An ordinary which separates or lies between common charges on a shield.
Obs. c. Each of the divisions or compartments of a parted or quartered shield.
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Heraldry d iij, The first particion forsoth is of ij colouris in armys after the long way in the playne maner. Ibid. d v, The.. particion ouerwart is made as mony wyse as is the partycion on length. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. ii. (1660) 108 Whensoever there is a separation of common charges..by reason of the Interposition of some..Ordinaries, then they are not termed Ordinaries, but most worthy Partitions. 1725 Coats Dict. Her., Partitions, or Compartiments, as the French call them, as also Quarterings of the Escutcheon, according to the Number of Coats that are to be on it, are the several Divisions made in it, when the Arms of several Families are born altogether by one. |
10. attrib. and
Comb., as
partition-balk,
partition-beam,
partition fence,
partition-line;
partition chromatography, chromatography which utilizes the differing solubilities of the components of a mixture in a liquid sorbent (chosen to be immiscible with the carrier if this is a liquid);
spec. that in which the sorbent is a polar liquid and the carrier a less polar liquid; hence
partition-chromatogram,
-chromatographic a.;
partition coefficient Physical Chem. [
tr. F.
coefficient de partage (Berthelot & Jungfleisch 1872, in
Ann. de Chim. et de Physique XXVI. 398)], the ratio of the concentrations of a solute in each of two immiscible or slightly miscible liquids, or two solids, when it is in equilibrium across the interface between them;
partition function Physics, a sum of the form σ
i Ω
i exp (-
Ei/
kT) (where Ω
i is the degeneracy of the state with energy
Ei,
k is Boltzmann's constant, and
T the absolute temperature), or an analogous integral, which enters into the expression for the distribution of the particles of a system among different energy states and other thermodynamic quantities; symbol
Z;
Partition treaty, name given to each of the two treaties (of 11 Oct. 1698 and 11 Oct. 1700) attempting ‘to settle from outside the complex question of the Spanish Succession on the death of the king, Charles II’ (Low and Pulling
Dict. Eng. Hist. 1884, 804). See also
partition-wall.
| 1581–90 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 412 A particion balke..of .16. foote breadthe. |
| 1944 Biochem. Jrnl. XXXVIII. 286/2 On paper strip partition chromatograms..a number of free peptides travel as reasonably narrow bands whose presence can be revealed by treatment with ninhydrin. Ibid. 65/1 We record here some technical aspects of the experience which we have gained in the use of our partition chromatographic method..for the quantitative analysis of amino⁓acid mixtures. 1968 Jrnl. Chromatogr. XXXVII. 97 Partition systems..are much less likely to hinder complete recovery of unchanged, separated components. Hence there is an interest in developing practically useful liquid partition chromatographic systems. |
| 1943 A. H. Gordon et al. in Biochem. Jrnl. XXXVII. 79/1 In the present paper we report new applications and developments of partition chromatography* (Martin & Synge, 1941b) in the study of amino-acids and peptides. [Note*] We employ the term ‘partition chromatography’ at the suggestion of Dr. E. Lester Smith, to distinguish it from the classical adsorption chromatography. Our earlier term ‘liquid-liquid chromatography’ was liable to confusion with the fractional elution procedure sometimes called ‘liquid chromatography’. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. III. 94/2 Volatile, nonpolar substances such as hydrocarbons may be examined by gas adsorption or gas partition chromatography... Weakly polar substances such as alcohols..are examined by adsorption or partition chromatography. Ibid. 95/2 With the phases reversed, that is with the polar phase as the wash liquid and the less polar phase fixed in the support, the method is known as reversed phase partition chromatography. It provides a chromatographic sequence the inverse of that produced by partition chromatography. 1967 M. E. Hale Biol. Lichens viii. 130 It is only in the past 15 years that the development of partition chromatography has brought a rapid and sure means of identifying plant products within the reach of taxonomists and physiologists. |
| 1891 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. LX. ii. 1148 (heading) Relation between affinity and partition coefficients in immiscible solvents. 1925 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXII. 492 Variations in the concentration of cementite can be studied by means of the position of the Curie point, which allows of ascertaining variations in the partition coefficient of manganese between the carbide and the ferrite according to the annealing temperature. 1964 G. I. Brown Introd. Physical Chem. xxi. 235 Suppose that 100 cc. of benzene is available for extracting a solute, X, dissolved in 100 cc. of water, and that the partition coefficient of X between benzene and water is 5. |
| 1639 Early Rec. Dedham, Mass. (1892) III. 51 A {pbar}ticon [sc. partition] fence in the same. 1748 New Hampsh. Probate Rec. (1916) III. 608 [This land is] to be possess'd and enjoy'd by them..as ye partition fence between them now stands. 1870 Rep. Comm. Agric. 1869 (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 395 Partition fences must be proof against sheep. |
| 1927 Fisher & Hartree tr. Born's Mech. Atom 3 The so-called partition function (Zustandsintegral). 1970 P. W. Atkins Molecular Quantum Mech. x. 392 The proportion of molecules in the rotational state J is given by Z-1(2J + 1) × exp{ob}-E(J)/kT{cb}, where Z is the rotational partition function. |
| 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 465 The partition line between New York and Connecticut as established Dec. 1, 1664. 1838 Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1846) II. xviii. 165 The removal of the partition line was followed by important consequences to the Portuguese. |
| 1711 Swift Conduct of Allies 15 The Violation of the Partition-Treaty, by the French. 1779–81 Johnson L. P., Prior Wks. III. 134 The impeachment of those lords who had persuaded the king to the Partition-treaty. a 1859 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxiv. (1880) II. 693 It was said, when first the terms of the Partition Treaty were made public..that the English and Dutch governments..were guilty of a violation of plighted faith. |
Add:
[4.] c. Computing. (
a) A self-contained part of a program, or a group of programs within a program library; (
b) each of a number of (
usu. equal) blocks into which some operating systems divide memory in order to facilitate storage and retrieval of information; also, (a part of) a program which may be stored in one such block.
| 1968 N. Chapin 360 Programming in Assembly Language iii. 30 A program library may be divided into groups of programs. These groups are called partitions of the program library. Groups of programs can also be known as phases, but a phase typically includes fewer programs than a partition. 1977 Gloss. Terms Data Processing (B.S.I.) vii. 9/1 Partition, a self-contained portion of a computer program that may be executed without the entire computer program necessarily being maintained in the internal storage at any one time. 1980 C. S. French Computer Sci. xxx. 259 The operating system may organise main storage into blocks of convenient size called partitions. 1985 Which Computer? Dec. 48/1 The first thing to do is to decide how many partitions you want and what their respective sizes are going to be. 1986 Austral. Personal Computer Sept. 88/3 Pick needs a partition of the hard disk all to itself. |
▪ II. partition, v. (
pəˈtɪʃən,
pɑː-)
[f. prec. n.] 1. a. trans. To make partition of; to divide into parts or portions; to dismember and deal
out.
| 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 52 She mentions his concealing himself to hear her partitioning out her clothes. 1821 Examiner 420/1 He never sullied his conquests by partitioning and dividing the conquered. 1828 D'Israeli Chas. I, I. vi. 162 We have witnessed, in our own times, this political artifice of partitioning a great kingdom. |
b. spec. To divide (land) into severalty.
| 1880 Muirhead Gaius Dig. 442 The actio familiae erciscundae for partitioning an inheritance. 1883 Law Times Rep. XLIX. 162/2 They claimed..that the estate should be sold in lieu of being partitioned. |
c. Math. To subdivide by means of a partition (sense 6 b).
| 1943 K. Mather Statist. Anal. Biol. xi. 180 A compound χ2 can be partitioned into simple components each dependent on a single comparison and each taking 1 degree of freedom. 1959 Perfect & Petersen tr. Alexandroff's Introd. Theory of Groups vi. 67 Every group may be partitioned into classes of mutually conjugate elements. 1966 S. Beer Decision & Control vi. 106 The set of commercial responsibilities is partitioned, for example, into home sales (heavy), home sales (light) and export sales. 1968 E. T. Copson Metric Spaces v. 68 We can partition this set into two separated sets. |
2. To separate by a partition; to divide
off.
| 1832 H. Martineau Hill & Valley iv. 67 Paul had partitioned off half his little room to serve as a workshop. 1851 Dickens Lett. III. 131, I dream that I am a carpenter and can't partition off the hall. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 217 The internodes and petioles..are partitioned by diaphragms. |