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

After Three Mile Island suffered a partial core meltdown in 1979, one of its two reactors was permanently shut down.

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If you do find legal help, file a motion in the interpleader case affirming the designations and requesting prompt partial distribution.

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Officials have been mulling over a partial sale of the national carrier for years.

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Still, most are in partial or experimental adoption, with only 31% having fully integrated generative AI across core operations.

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While an estimated 50 million people worldwide are affected, current treatment options are limited and often provide only partial symptom relief or rely on costly therapies such as monoclonal antibodies.

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Related Words

• one-sided 
• unfair