defragment (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1992, in computer sense, from de- + fragment. Related: Defragmented; defragmenting.
fractal (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
"never-ending pattern," 1975, from French fractal, from Latin fractus "interrupted, irregular," literally "broken," past participle of frangere "to break" (see fraction). Coined by French mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot (1924-2010) in "Les Objets Fractals."
Many important spatial patterns of Nature are either irregular or fragmented to such an extreme degree that ... classical geometry ... is hardly of any help in describing their form. ... I hope to show that it is possible in many cases to remedy this absence of geometric representation by using a family of shapes I propose to call fractals -- or fractal sets. [Mandelbrot, "Fractals," 1977]
fragment (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
by 1788 (implied in fragmented), from fragment (n.). Intransitive use from 1961. Related: Fragmenting.
Broca's areayoudaoicibaDictYouDict
"A region of the brain concerned with the production of speech, located in the cortex of the dominant frontal lobe. Damage in this area causes Broca’s aphasia, characterized by hesitant and fragmented speech with little grammatical structure", Late 19th century: named after Paul Broca (1824–80), French surgeon.