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fragment

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

8 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "fragment", 8-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "fragment" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "fragment" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

fragment is aEnglishnoun. It means: A part broken off; a small, detached portion; an imperfect part, either physically or not Pronounced /ˈfɹæɡmənt/. Often confused with fragrant and fragments.

Key facts for fragment
PropertyValue
Headwordfragment
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfɹæɡmənt/
Letters8
Frequency rank#13,918
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of fragment in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for fragment is 8 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɹæɡmənt/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,918 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 13 documented wrong-spelling variants for fragment, with forms such as "fargment", "ffragment", and "fragemnt". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "fragrant", "fragments", "figment", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Middle English fragment, from Latin fragmentum (“a fragment, remnant”), from frangō (“to break”) + -mentum. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is fragment, spelled F-R-A-G-M-E-N-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A part broken off; a small, detached portion; an imperfect part, either physically or not
  2. 2
    A sentence not containing a subject or a predicate; a sentence fragment.
  3. 3
    An incomplete portion of code.
  4. 4
    A portion of a URL referring to a subordinate resource or anchor (such as a specific point on a web page), introduced by the # sign.
  5. 5
    A split piece of an organism that has undergone the asexual reproduction process where the organism splits into one or more pieces, then those pieces become new individuals.

Etymology

From Late Middle English fragment, from Latin fragmentum (“a fragment, remnant”), from frangō (“to break”) + -mentum.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: fargment,ffragment,fragemnt,fraggment,fragmennt,fragmentt,fragmetn,fragmment,fragmnet,framgent,frgament,frragment,rfagment

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for fragment

Misspelling Variants of "fragment"

fargment8ffragment9fragemnt8fraggment9fragmennt9fragmentt9fragmetn8fragmment9
Misspelling Variants of "fragment"

Frequency rank: #13,918 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "fragment"?
"fragment" is spelled F-R-A-G-M-E-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfɹæɡmənt/.
What does "fragment" mean?
As a noun, "fragment" means: A part broken off; a small, detached portion; an imperfect part, either physically or not
What words are commonly confused with "fragment"?
"fragment" is commonly confused with "fragrant", "fragments", "figment". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fragment"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fragment" is /ˈfɹæɡmənt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "fragment"?
From Late Middle English fragment, from Latin fragmentum (“a fragment, remnant”), from frangō (“to break”) + -mentum. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter F in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.