Fragment Meaning
Fragment Definition & Usage
A small part or portion of something that has broken off or is incomplete.
Examples
- "I found a fragment of the broken vase under the table."
- "The archaeologists uncovered ancient fragments of pottery at the dig site."
- "She showed me a fragment of the letter that had been torn in half."
- "The artist’s painting was missing a key fragment, and no one knew where it had gone."
- "After the accident, the car was left in fragments all over the road."
An incomplete sentence or utterance that is missing key elements, such as a subject or predicate.
Examples
- "The sentence ‘Running through the park’ is a fragment because it lacks a subject."
- "She wrote a fragment of a story, but it lacked the resolution."
- "In the essay, there were several fragments that needed to be revised into complete thoughts."
- "His conversation was a series of disjointed fragments, making it difficult to understand."
- "After the speech, all we had were fragments of what the speaker intended to say."
To break something into pieces or parts.
Examples
- "The wind fragmented the paper into tiny shreds."
- "The old building was fragmented during the demolition process."
- "The argument fragmented into multiple smaller disagreements."
- "The mirror was fragmented by the impact of the ball."
- "Her thoughts were fragmented, making it hard to focus on any one idea."
Cultural Context
The word 'fragment' originates from the Latin 'fragmentum', meaning a broken piece or portion. It has been used since the 16th century to describe pieces of something that was once whole. Over time, it has expanded to include abstract and linguistic contexts.
The Lost Fragment
Story
The Lost Fragment
In a small town by the coast, a storm had ravaged the old lighthouse. Among the wreckage, the townspeople found only fragments of the once magnificent structure—broken stone, shattered windows, and twisted metal. The storm had not only scattered physical debris but had also left behind something more intangible: memories. As Emma sifted through the remains, she discovered an old journal fragment, its pages torn and weathered. The words were barely legible, but she could make out a few sentences. ‘The light… it flickered, then vanished,’ it read. The fragment seemed like a clue, but to what? Emma’s mind wandered back to the stories her grandmother had told her about the lighthouse keeper, a man whose obsession with the light had driven him to madness. Was this journal a fragment of his mind unraveling? She couldn’t help but think there was more to this mystery than just a storm’s wreckage. As the days passed, Emma found herself collecting more and more fragments—snippets of conversations, broken pieces of history, and half-formed thoughts. Each piece seemed connected to the other, yet incomplete. The more she collected, the more she realized that the whole story could never be fully pieced together. It was as if the lighthouse itself had fragmented, its legacy scattered like the remnants of a forgotten dream. But Emma knew that even in these fragments, there was truth waiting to be uncovered. One evening, standing at the edge of the cliff where the lighthouse once stood, Emma looked at the horizon. The storm had passed, and the sky was clear. The fragments, scattered across the landscape and in her mind, had given her a glimpse into something much larger—a puzzle she could never fully solve, but one that made her understand the beauty of the unknown.
