adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/kɒmpɑːtˈmɛntəl/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɛntəl
CMU ARPABET:K AH0 M P AA2 R T M EH1 N T AH0 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Of, pertaining to, or constructed from compartments
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adjective satellite
Meaning 2
divided up into compartments or categories
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
most sciences have become woefully compartmentalized
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: compartmentalized, compartmentalised
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin com- Proto-Indo-European *perh3-der.? Proto-Italic *partis Latin pars Latin partiō Latin partior Latin compartīrībor. Italian compartire Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom Proto-Italic *-mentom Latin -mentum Italian -mento Italian compartimentobor. Middle French compartimentder. English compartment English -al English compartmental From compartment + -al.