disintegration

[dis-in-tuh-grey-shuh n] /dɪsˌɪn təˈgreɪ ʃən/
noun
1.
the act or process of disintegrating.
2.
Physics. decay (def 8).
Origin
1790-1800; disintegrate + -ion
Related forms
nondisintegration, noun
Examples from the web for disintegration
  • The disintegration of a marriage, from the husband's point of view.
  • But some scholars believe that a disintegration of anthropology may be accelerating today.
  • The cracks then flood, and this speeds up the disintegration of the shelf by weakening its interior.
  • Scientists are finally beginning to agree on what controls the size of the sheet and its rate of disintegration.
  • There are technical terms for this kind of disintegration.
  • The disintegration went on, accompanied by horrible cracks and rumbling.
  • The weakening of the administration is another sort of disintegration.
  • But neither are they being asked whether they want disintegration.
  • Social unrest and political disintegration will surely follow soon after.
  • The fix was an operation to clear out the disintegration, clean up the spurs and fuse the vertebrae.
Contemporary definitions for disintegration
noun

See mechanical weathering

Word Origin and History for disintegration
n.

1796, noun of action from disintegrate.

disintegration in Medicine

disintegration dis·in·te·gra·tion (dĭs-ĭn'tĭ-grā'shən)
n.

  1. The breaking up of the component parts of a substance, as in catabolism or decay.

  2. The disorganization or disruption of mental processes in mental illness.

  3. The natural or induced transformation of an atomic nucleus from a more massive to a less massive configuration by the emission of particles or radiation.

dis·in'te·grate' v.