See Also: S-T segment(medicine)
RST segment(medicine)
P-R segment(medicine)
segment(1)(dictionary)
segment(2)(dictionary)
segment(medicine)
Segment(money)
rod outer segment(medicine)
neural segment(medicine)
mesoblastic segment(medicine)

segment(1) (iou)



segment noun. L16.
[Latin segmentum, from secare cut: see -MENT.]
a. Geometry. A part of a plane (or solid) figure separated off by an intersecting straight line (or plane); esp. (more fully segment of a circle) a plane figure contained by a chord and an arc of a circle. Also loosely, an arc of a circle, a sector of a circle. L16.
segment of a sphere a solid figure bounded by a portion of the surface of a sphere and an intersecting plane, or two parallel planes.
b. A portion of anything resembling a segment of a circle or sphere. M17.
A piece cut or broken off unevenly, a fragment. rare. L16.
a. Geometry. A finite part of a line between two points; a division of a line. E17.
b. Acoustics. Each of the portions into which the length of a vibrating string, wire, etc., is divided by the nodes. M19.
Botany. Each of the portions into which a leaf or other plant organ is divided by long clefts or incisions. E18.
PERIANTH segment.
Each of the parts into which a thing is or may be divided; a sharply cut or delineated piece; a division, a section. M18.
Times Every segment of national outlay must be judged. D. Profumo He offered the boy two segments of orange.
b. Anthropology. Any lower level division of a social structure, esp. one based on the same principles as higher order units. M20.
c. Linguistics. A unit forming part of a continuum of speech or text; an isolable unit in a phonological or syntactic system. M20.
d. Broadcasting. A division of the day's broadcasting time, a time slot. Also, a separate broadcast item, esp. within a programme. Orig. US. M20.
e. Computing. A functional subdivision of a module. M20.
Anatomy & Zoology. Each of the series of similar anatomical units of which the body and its appendages are composed in various animals, esp. arthropods and annelids; a somite, a metamere. Also, each of a series of functional or embryological divisions of a vertebrate body or limb, esp. of the spinal column, musculature, or central nervous system. M19.