partial

[pahr-shuhl]

adjective

1. being such in part only; not total or general; incomplete: a partial payment of a debt.

   partial blindness;

   a partial payment of a debt.

   Synonyms: limited, imperfect, unfinished
   Antonyms: complete

2. biased or prejudiced in favor of a person, group, side, etc., over another, as in a controversy.

   a partial witness.

   Synonyms: unjust, unfair, one-sided
   Antonyms: fair, unbiased

3. pertaining to or affecting a part.

   Antonyms: complete

4. being a part; component; constituent.

5. Botany.,  secondary or subordinate.

   a partial umbel.

noun

1. Bridge.,  part-score.

2. Acoustics, Music.,  partial tone.

partial

/ ˈpɑːʃəl /

adjective

1. relating to only a part; not general or complete

   a partial eclipse

2. biased

   a partial judge

3. having a particular liking (for)

4. botany

   1. constituting part of a larger structure

      a partial umbel

   2. used for only part of the life cycle of a plant

      a partial habitat

   3. (of a parasite) not exclusively parasitic

5. maths designating or relating to an operation in which only one of a set of independent variables is considered at a time

noun

1. Also called: partial tone. music acoustics any of the component tones of a single musical sound, including both those that belong to the harmonic series of the sound and those that do not

2. maths a partial derivative

Other Word Forms

• partially adverb
• partialness noun
• nonpartial adjective
• overpartial adjective
• overpartialness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of partial¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English parcial “biased, particular,” from Middle French, from Late Latin partiālis “pertaining to a part,” equivalent to Latin parti- (stem of pars ) “piece, portion” + -ālis adjective suffix; part, -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of partial¹

C15: from Old French parcial, from Late Latin partiālis incomplete, from Latin pars _part

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. partial to, having a liking or preference for; particularly fond of.

   I'm partial to chocolate cake.

Example Sentences

One even has a partial second floor, but still feels rooted to the ground.

From Los Angeles Times

Democratic and Republican leaders remain far apart on how to end the partial shutdown of the US government as another day of voting approaches on Monday.

From BBC

That was caused by an apparent partial brake failure, and while Leclerc went back past him the Briton.

From BBC

But Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced last week that a partial ban on petrol exports had been extended to the end of 2025.

From BBC

And that was only a partial shutdown, as some government funding had been approved.

From BBC

Related Words

• one-sided 
• unfair