diaphragm vs partition

diaphragm

noun
  • A flexible membrane separating two chambers and fixed around its periphery that distends into one or other chamber as the difference in the pressure in the chambers varies. 

  • In a speaker, the thin, semi-rigid membrane which vibrates to produce sound. 

  • A thin opaque structure with a central aperture, used to limit the passage of light into a camera or similar device. 

  • Any of various membranes or sheets of muscle or ligament which separate one cavity from another. 

  • A floor slab, metal wall panel, roof panel or the like, having a sufficiently large in-plane shear stiffness and sufficient strength to transmit horizontal forces to resisting systems. 

  • A contraceptive device consisting of a flexible cup, used to cover the cervix during intercourse. 

  • In mammals, a sheet of muscle separating the thorax from the abdomen, contracted and relaxed in respiration to draw air into and expel air from the lungs; also called thoracic diaphragm. 

  • A permeable or semipermeable membrane. 

verb
  • To reduce lens aperture using an optical diaphragm. 

  • To act as a diaphragm, for example by vibrating. 

partition

noun
  • A part divided off by walls; an apartment; a compartment. 

  • A vertical structure that divides a room. 

  • An approach to division in which one asks what the size of each part is, rather than (as in quotition) how many parts there are. 

  • A musical score. 

  • An action which divides a thing into parts, or separates one thing from another. 

  • A part of something that has been divided. 

  • That which divides or separates; that by which different things, or distinct parts of the same thing, are separated; boundary; dividing line or space. 

  • The severance of common or undivided interests, particularly in real estate. It may be effected by consent of parties, or by compulsion of law. 

  • The division of a territory into two or more autonomous ones. 

  • A division of a database or one of its constituting elements such as tables into separate independent parts. 

  • A section of a hard disk separately formatted. 

  • A collection of non-empty, disjoint subsets of a set whose union is the set itself (i.e. all elements of the set are contained in exactly one of the subsets). 

verb
  • To divide something into parts, sections or shares. 

  • To divide a region or country into two or more territories with separate political status. 

  • To separate or divide a room by a partition (ex. a wall), often use with off. 

How often have the words diaphragm and partition occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )