fragment

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: frag=ment

CIDE DICTIONARY

fragment, n. [L. fragmentum, fr. frangere to break: cf. F. fragment. See Break, v. t.].

 A part broken off; a small, detached portion; an imperfect part; as, a fragment of an ancient writing.  [1913 Webster]
"Gather up the fragments that remain."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

fragment, n. & v.
--n.
1 a part broken off; a detached piece.
2 an isolated or incomplete part.
3 the remains of an otherwise lost or destroyed whole, esp. the extant remains or unfinished portion of a book or work of art.
--v.tr. & intr. break or separate into fragments.

Derivative

fragmental adj. fragmentize v.tr. (also -ise).

Etymology

ME f. F fragment or L fragmentum (as FRAGILE)

THESAURUS

fragment

abrade, ace, ana, analects, anthology, atom, atomize, beat, bit, bray, break into pieces, break to pieces, break up, brecciate, burst, butt, chip, chunk, cleave, clip, clipping, clippings, collectanea, collection, collop, come apart, comminute, contriturate, crash, crumb, crumble, crunch, crush, cut, cut to pieces, cutting, cuttings, dab, debris, demolish, diffuse, disassemble, disintegrate, dismantle, disperse, disrupt, dole, dollop, dot, dram, dribble, driblet, dwarf, end, excerpta, excerpts, explode, extracts, farthing, fission, fleck, florilegium, flour, flowers, flyspeck, fragments, gleanings, go to pieces, gob, gobbet, grain, granulate, granule, granulize, grate, grind, grind to powder, groat, hair, handful, hunk, iota, jot, levigate, little, little bit, lota, lump, make mincemeat of, mash, mill, mince, minim, minimum, minutiae, miscellanea, miscellany, mite, modicum, moiety, molecule, morsel, mote, nutshell, ounce, paring, part, particle, pash, pebble, pestle, pick to pieces, piece, pinch, pittance, point, portion, pound, powder, pull in pieces, pull to pieces, pulverize, rasher, reduce to powder, reduce to rubble, remnant, rend, rive, scatter, scoop, scrap, scrunch, scruple, shard, shatter, shaving, shiver, shred, slice, sliver, smash, smash up, smatter, smidgen, smitch, smithereen, smithereens, snack, snatch, snip, snippet, speck, splinter, split, split up, spoonful, spot, squash, squish, stitch, stump, sunder, take apart, tatter, tear apart, tear to pieces, tear to shreds, tear to tatters, thimbleful, tiny bit, tittle, total, trifling amount, triturate, trivia, unbuild, undo, unmake, whit, wrack up, wreck

ROGET THESAURUS

fragment

Smallness

N smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance), mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity, small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent, to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand, dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, small sands the mountain, moments make the year.

Part

N part, portion, dose, item, particular, aught, any, division, ward, subdivision, section, chapter, clause, count, paragraph, verse, article, passage, sector, segment, fraction, fragment, cantle, frustum, detachment, parcel, piece, lump, bit cut, cutting, chip, chunk, collop, slice, scale, lamina, small part, morsel, particle, installment, dividend, share, debris, odds and ends, oddments, detritus, excerpta, member, limb, lobe, lobule, arm, wing, scion, branch, bough, joint, link, offshoot, ramification, twig, bush, spray, sprig, runner, leaf, leaflet, stump, component part, sarmentum, compartment, department, county, fractional, fragmentary, sectional, aliquot, divided, in compartments, multifid, disconnected, partial, partly, in part, partially, piecemeal, part by part, by by installments, by snatches, by inches, by driblets, bit by bit, inch by inch, foot by foot, drop by drop, in detail, in lots.

Littleness

N littleness, smallness, exiguity, inextension, parvitude, parvity, duodecimo, Elzevir edition, epitome, microcosm, rudiment, vanishing point, thinness, dwarf, pygmy, pigmy, Liliputian, chit, pigwidgeon, urchin, elf, atomy, dandiprat, doll, puppet, Tom Thumb, Hop-o'-my-thumb, manikin, mannikin, homunculus, dapperling, cock-sparrow, animalcule, monad, mite, insect, emmet, fly, midge, gnat, shrimp, minnow, worm, maggot, entozoon, bacteria, infusoria, microzoa, phytozoaria, microbe, grub, tit, tomtit, runt, mouse, small fry, millet seed, mustard seed, barleycorn, pebble, grain of sand, molehill, button, bubble, point, atom, fragment, powder, point of a pin, mathematical point, minutiae, micrometer, vernier, scale, microphotography, photomicrography, micrography, photomicrograph, microphotograph, microscopy, microscope (optical instruments), little, small, minute, diminutive, microscopic, microzoal, inconsiderable, exiguous, puny, tiny, wee, petty, minikin, miniature, pygmy, pigmy, elfin, undersized, dwarf, dwarfed, dwarfish, spare, stunted, limited, cramp, cramped, pollard, Liliputian, dapper, pocket, portative, portable, duodecimo, dumpy, squat, short, impalpable, intangible, evanescent, imperceptible, invisible, inappreciable, insignificant, inconsiderable, trivial, infinitesimal, homoeopathic, atomic, subatomic, corpuscular, molecular, rudimentary, rudimental, embryonic, vestigial, weazen, scant, scraggy, scrubby, thin, granular, shrunk, brevipennate, in a small compass, in a nutshell, on a small scale, minutely, microscopically.