fragmentate

Fragmentate is an English verb meaning to cause something to break into fragments or to undergo fragmentation. It is a rare, technical term and is generally superseded by fragment (as a verb) or fragmentation (as a noun). When used, fragmentate typically appears in discussions of processes that produce multiple fragments from a larger whole, such as mechanical breakage, chemical decomposition, or data segmentation.

Origins and usage: The word is formed from the noun fragment plus the suffix -ate, following a common pattern for action verbs. It is not common in contemporary general writing and is largely confined to specialized or older scientific literature. In most prose, writers prefer fragment or fragmentation.

Field notes: In chemistry and mass spectrometry, fragmentation describes how a molecular ion breaks into smaller ions; fragmentate may be used to denote the act of causing such breakage, but fragmentation remains the standard term. In materials science, geology, or biology, terms such as fragmentation or comminution are preferred. In computing, data fragmentation describes the uneven distribution of data; the verb form fragmentate is infrequent there as well.

See also: Fragmentation; Fragment; Comminution; Disintegration.