Compartmentalization
//(ˌ)kɑm.pɑɹtˌmɛn.təl.əˈzeɪ.ʃən// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Division into compartments or parts. countable, uncountable
- 2 the act of distributing things into classes or categories of the same type wordnet
- 3 The act or process of dividing a complex task or structure into smaller, often more manageable pieces. broadly, countable, uncountable
"In reality, the multidimensionality of language contact in multilingual environments ensures no such neat compartmentalisation."
- 4 a mild state of dissociation wordnet
- 5 A defense mechanism in which thoughts and feelings that seem to conflict are kept separated or isolated from each other in the mind. countable, uncountable
"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."
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- 6 The act of dividing complex code into libraries with common functionality to help make the process of programming more manageable and reusable. countable, uncountable
- 7 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. countable, uncountable
- 8 A similar approach for computer security. broadly, countable, uncountable
Synonyms
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More examples""We wish to create a neutral basis on which the various peoples of humanity could be peacefully and fraternally communicating with each other, not reciprocally imposing racial compartmentalization on each other.""
Etymology
From compartmentalize + -ation.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.