Word.ws English Dictionary

comminution

Syllables: com·mi·nu·tion/ˌkɒmɪˈnjuːʃ(ə)n/US/ˌkɑməˈn(j)uʃən/

comminution noun: the breaking or grinding up of a material to form smaller particles.

Noun

comminution (countable and uncountable, plural comminutions)

  1. (often, waste management) The breaking or grinding up of a material to form smaller particles.
    • Near-synonyms: maceration, crushing, pulverization, crumbling
    • He deſcribes in a Mechanical way the manner of its Action; ſuppoſing that ſome of its Particles having undergone ſeveral Comminutions (tho not a Diſſolution) from the various Firments they have paſſed, arrive at laſt, with the Blood, at the Brain; […] thoſe of them, which are not ſmall enough to...1692–1693 February, “VI. An Account of a Book. Novæ Hypotheseos, ad explicanda febrium intermittentium Symptomata & Typos excogitatæ Hypotyposis. Unà cum Ætiologià Remediorium; speciatim vero de...
  2. The fracture of a bone site into multiple pieces (at least three, and often many).
    • Comminution of the shaft of one or of both bones of the fore-arm does not of itself indicate operative interference, other complications may necessitate primary or secondary amputation.1851, Friedrich Esmarch, “On the Treatment of These Injuries”, in On Resection in Gun-shot Injuries. Observation and Experience in the Schleswig-Holstein Campaigns of 1848 to 1851, Kiel...
    • Wrist fractures encountered in natural disasters most frequently belong to the more complicated types, viz. III, IV and VIII. Importantly, comminutions are common. When both radius and ulnar^([sic – meaning ulna]) are involved with comminutions, joint surface involvements are often combined with...2016, Ping-Chung Leung, Kwong-Sui Leung, Leung-Kim Hung, “Hand and Wrist Injuries”, in Nikolaj Wolfson, editor, Orthpedics in Disasters: Orthopedic Injuries in Natural Disasters and Mass Casualty...

comminution meaning in Tamil, Bengali and Arabic

comminution in Tamil

பொடியாக்கல்

comminution in Bengali

চূর্ণ, গুঁড়ো করার প্রক্রিয়া

comminution in Arabic

breaking or grinding up of a material
تفتيت

Examples of comminution in a sentence

  • What circumstances could have effected such comminutions, such separations, such transpositions, and transportations of the several kinds, having all the same origin?1854, Andrew Brown, chapter 13, in The Philosophy of Physics: Or, Process of Creative Development, by which the First Principles of Physics...
  • What circumstances determine the degree of comminution to which a substance should be subjected preparatory to future extraction?1873, Barnard S. Proctor, “Lecture II. Comminution.”, in Lectures on Practical Pharmacy, London: J[ohn] & A[ugustus] Churchill, New...
  • Termites are herbivores and detritivores variously involved in the comminution and decomposition of vegetable matter, through most of the warm temperate and tropical zones.1978, J. P. La Fage, W. L. Nutting, “Nutrient Dynamics of Termites”, in M. V. Brian, editor, Production Ecology of Ants and Termites...
  • When both radius and ulnar^([sic – meaning ulna]) are involved with comminutions, joint surface involvements are often combined with soft tissue injuries.2016, Ping-Chung Leung, Kwong-Sui Leung, Leung-Kim Hung, “Hand and Wrist Injuries”, in Nikolaj Wolfson, editor, Orthpedics in Disasters...

Synonyms of comminution

Forms of comminution

pluralcomminutions

Origin of comminution

From Latin comminūtiō (“breaking into pieces, crumbling, shattering; crushing, pulverizing”), from Latin comminuō (“to break or crumble into small pieces; to crush, pulverize”) (from com- (prefix indicating completeness) + minuō (“to make smaller; to diminish, lessen”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“little, small”)) + Latin -tiō (suffix forming a noun relating to some action or the result of an action); equivalent to comminute + -ion.

Questions about comminution

What does comminution mean?
Comminution means the breaking or grinding up of a material to form smaller particles.
What is comminution in Tamil?
Comminution in Tamil is பொடியாக்கல். See Comminution meaning in Tamil.
How do you use comminution in a sentence?
What circumstances could have effected such comminutions, such separations, such transpositions, and transportations of the several kinds, having all the same origin?
What part of speech is comminution?
Comminution is a noun.
How do you pronounce comminution?
Comminution is pronounced /ˌkɒmɪˈnjuːʃ(ə)n/ (UK).
What is the plural of comminution?
The plural of comminution is comminutions.

Words near comminution in the dictionary

  1. comminuted
  2. comminuter
  3. comminuters
  4. comminutes
  5. comminuting
  6. comminution
  7. comminutions
  8. comminutor
  9. comminutors
  10. commis
  11. commiscible

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: comminution (page history and authors); comminution (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); comminution (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-comminution.wav.

Cite this entry: “comminution.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/comminution. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.