segment

segment — noun

1. a distinct part of a larger thing that can be studied, discussed, or dealt with

1.nounB1
Definition

a distinct part of a larger thing that can be studied, discussed, or dealt with on its own — such as an age group within a population, a set of customers who share similar buying habits, or a portion of a company's income.

Example

The company focuses on the luxury segment of the car market.

collocation: market segment

Older adults make up the fastest-growing segment of the city's population.

segment + of + population

Common collocations
  • market segment
  • customer segment
  • population segment
  • segment of society
  • segment of the population
Synonyms
  • portion

    more general; implies a share or part of a whole

  • section

    often refers to a physically or visually divided part

  • sector

    strongly associated with economics, industry, or social divisions

Antonyms
  • whole

    the entire thing rather than one of its parts

Grammar Patterns

segment + of + noun phrase

Usage Note

Frequently paired with market, population, or audience to label a subgroup within a larger system. The preposition of is almost always used to show what the segment belongs to.

Common Mistakes

I ate a segment of cake.
I ate a piece of cake.
'segment' is not used for everyday food portions; it sounds unnatural outside fruit or technical contexts.

2. in geometry, any portion of a circle or sphere that is marked off from the main

2.nounB2
Definition

in geometry, any portion of a circle or sphere that is marked off from the main shape using at least one boundary — such as the region of a circle lying between a chord and its outer arc, or a section of a sphere created by slicing through it with a flat plane.

Example

Camila drew a chord across the circle and shaded the smaller segment.

visual geometry context

Each segment of a sphere has a curved surface and a flat circular base.

Common collocations
  • circular segment
  • line segment
  • segment of a circle
  • segment of a sphere
Synonyms
  • section

    less precise; used for any cut part in geometry or diagrams

Grammar Patterns

segment + of + circle/sphere

Usage Note

In mathematics, 'segment' of a circle refers specifically to the region bounded by a chord and the arc it cuts off. Distinguish from 'sector', which is bounded by two radii. In everyday English this sense is rare — other senses of segment are far more common.

3. any of the wedge-shaped natural sections inside some fruits, especially citrus f

3.nounA2
Definition

any of the wedge-shaped natural sections inside some fruits, especially citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, and tangerines.

Example

Isabela peeled the orange and pulled each segment apart carefully.

Each segment of a grapefruit is wrapped in a thin, slightly bitter skin.

natural division of a fruit

Common collocations
  • orange segment
  • lemon segment
  • grapefruit segment
  • separate the segments
Synonyms
  • wedge

    used for orange slices cut by a knife, not the natural divisions

  • section

    a less specific term; can refer to any divided part of a fruit

Grammar Patterns

segment + of + fruit name

Common Mistakes

I ate a segment of apple.
I ate a segment of orange.
Only citrus fruits and a few others (pomegranates, for example) have natural segments. Hard fruits like apples do not.

4. a short, self-contained piece of audio or video content that is part of a longer

4.nounB1
Definition

a short, self-contained piece of audio or video content that is part of a longer broadcast — for instance, a news story inside a TV bulletin, a recipe feature on a morning show, or a topical clip posted on social media.

Example

The news segment about the earthquake lasted just under two minutes.

collocation: news segment

Karim watches the cooking segment of the morning show every weekday.

Common collocations
  • news segment
  • programme segment
  • interview segment
  • segment of the show
Synonyms
  • clip

    shorter and more informal; often used for video clips online

  • feature

    a longer, more developed section of a programme

  • part

    a general, less precise alternative

Grammar Patterns

segment + of + programme/show

TV segment

news segment

Usage Note

Often combines with the name of the programme type (news segment, cooking segment, comedy segment). Can also refer to video clips shared on platforms like YouTube or TikTok without a surrounding programme.

segment — verb

Word family

  • segmentation
    nounB2
  • segmented
    adjectiveB2
  • segmentable
    adjectiveC1
  • segmentally
    adverbC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Segment, section, portion, and sector all refer to a part of a larger whole, but they differ in what kind of whole they attach to. Segment suggests a part that can be studied or dealt with on its own — especially in business (market segment) or data analysis (population segment). Section usually implies a physically divided part — a section of a newspaper, a section of a pipe. Portion is the most general: it simply means a share or piece, whether or not there is a natural dividing line. Sector is strongly tied to economics and organised systems — the technology sector, the public sector, or a sector of society. For example, you would say 'the children's section of a library' (a physical area), but 'a segment of the travelling public' (a group identified by behaviour), and 'a large portion of my income' (an unspecified share).

segment ↗section ↗portion ↗sector ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • segment by age
  • segment into groups
  • segment of the market

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Segment entered English in the late 1500s from Latin segmentum, meaning 'a piece cut off'. The Latin root secare ('to cut') also gave us words like section, dissect, insect (an animal with a 'cut' body), and bisect. The geometric meaning of a part of a circle or sphere was the earliest English use; the more general meaning of any part of a whole developed later.