different between partition vs assignment

English

Etymology

Recorded c.1430, "division into shares, distinction," borrowed from Old French particion (modern partition), from Latin partitio, partitionem (“division, portion”), from partitus, the past participle of partire (“to split (up), part(ition)”).

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: pärt?'sh?n, IPA^(key): /p???t???n/
• Rhymes: -???n

Noun

partition (countable and uncountable, plural partitions)

1. An action which divides a thing into parts, or separates one thing from another.
2. A part of something that has been divided.
3. (mathematics) An approach to division in which one asks what the size of each part is, rather than (as in quotition) how many parts there are.
4. The division of a territory into two or more autonomous ones.

5. A vertical structure that divides a room.

   a brick partition; lath and plaster partitions

6. That which divides or separates; that by which different things, or distinct parts of the same thing, are separated; boundary; dividing line or space.

   • No sight could pass / Betwixt the nice partitions of the grass.

7. A part divided off by walls; an apartment; a compartment.
8. (law) The severance of common or undivided interests, particularly in real estate. It may be effected by consent of parties, or by compulsion of law.
9. (computing) A section of a hard disk separately formatted.
10. (databases) A division of a database or one of its constituting elements such as tables into separate independent parts.
11. (set theory) A collection of non-empty, disjoint subsets of a set whose union is the set itself (i.e. all elements of the set are contained in exactly one of the subsets).
12. (music) A musical score.

Usage notes

• (set theory): The elements of the collection are sometimes called the blocks or parts of the partition.

Synonyms

• dismemberment

Derived terms

• equipartition

Related terms

• partite

Translations

Verb

partition (third-person singular simple present partitions, present participle partitioning, simple past and past participle partitioned)(transitive)

1. To divide something into parts, sections or shares
2. To divide a region or country into two or more territories with separate political status
3. To separate or divide a room by a partition (ex. a wall), often use with off

Synonyms

• dismember

Derived terms

• partitioner
• partitionist

Related terms

• partner

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin part?ti?, part?ti?nem. Synchronically analysable as partir +? -tion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pa?.ti.sj??/

Noun

partition f (plural partitions)

1. (heraldry) a (geometrical) division using two colors
2. (music) a score, often comprising all parts
3. (databases, computing) partition

Derived terms

• partitionner
• partitionnement
• partitionniste

Further reading

• “partition” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

From Middle English assignement, from Old French assignement.

Pronunciation

Noun

assignment (countable and uncountable, plural assignments)

1. The act of assigning; the allocation of a job or a set of tasks.

   This flow chart represents the assignment of tasks in our committee.

2. The categorization of something as belonging to a specific category.

   We should not condone the assignment of asylum seekers to that of people smugglers.

3. An assigned task.

   The assignment the department gave him proved to be quite challenging.

4. A position to which someone is assigned.

   Unbeknownst to Mr Smith, his new assignment was in fact a demotion.

5. (education) A task given to students, such as homework or coursework.

   Mrs Smith gave out our assignments, and said we had to finish them by Monday.

6. (law) A transfer of a right or benefit from one person to another.

   The assignment of the lease has not been finalised yet.

7. (law) A document that effects this transfer.

   Once you receive the assignment in the post, be sure to sign it and send it back as soon as possible.

8. (programming) An operation that assigns a value to a variable.

Hyponyms

• (programming): augmented assignment

Translations

References

• assignment on Wikipedia.Wikipedia