partial

[pahr-shuhl]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR partial ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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

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

pertaining to or affecting a part.

being a part; component; constituent.

Botany. secondary or subordinate: a partial umbel.

noun

Bridge. part-score.

Acoustics, Music. partial tone.

Idioms

partial to, having a liking or preference for; particularly fond of: I'm partial to chocolate cake.

Origin of partial

1375–1425; late Middle English parcial biased, particular < Middle French < Late Latin partiālis pertaining to a part, equivalent to Latin parti- (stem of pars) part + -ālis -al¹

Related formspar·tial·ly, adverbpar·tial·ness, nounnon·par·tial, adjectivenon·par·tial·ly, adverbo·ver·par·tial, adjectiveo·ver·par·tial·ly, adverbo·ver·par·tial·ness, noun

Can be confusedpartially partly

Synonyms for partial

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR partial ON THESAURUS.COM

1. unfinished, imperfect, limited. 2. one-sided, unfair, unjust.

Antonyms for partial

1, 3. complete. 2. unbiased, fair.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for partial

limited, one-sided, unfair, part, imperfect, sectional, partisan, colored, fractional, fragmentary, halfway, unfinished, uncompleted, discriminatory, disposed, influenced, interested, jaundiced, minded, predisposed

Examples from the Web for partial

Contemporary Examples of partial

Despite the financial remedy, partial repeal of the screen quota has imperiled the domestic market.
Propaganda, Protest, and Poisonous Vipers: The Cinema War in Korea
Rich Goldstein
December 30, 2014
Or perhaps Understanding, Partial Ignorance, and Total Ignorance.
Extreme Weather? Blame the End Times
Jay Michaelson
November 28, 2014
A better taxonomy would break us up by words like Acceptance, Partial Denial, and Total Denial.
Extreme Weather? Blame the End Times
Jay Michaelson
November 28, 2014
He majored in mathematical physics, studying mind-bending theories of quantum mechanics and partial differential equations.
How the NSA Became a Killing Machine
Shane Harris
November 9, 2014
The shooting left Brady with slurred speech, and with partial paralysis, which required him to use a wheelchair.
Jim Brady, Reagan’s Gentle ‘Bear’ Who Roared Back to Life After Being Shot
Eleanor Clift
August 4, 2014

Historical Examples of partial

This illuminated the entire room, but in a partial and dismal manner.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
This might be so had He Himself undertaken to give more than a partial view of truth.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King
He underwent various operations, but derived only partial benefit from them.
Handel
Edward J. Dent
I had a partial engagement for Monday with John; but he'll let me off, to go to the Opera.
The Bacillus of Beauty
Harriet Stark
How often, my dear, have you and I endeavoured to detect and censure this partial spirit in others?
Clarissa, Volume 2 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson

British Dictionary definitions for partial

partial

adjective

relating to only a part; not general or completea partial eclipse

biaseda partial judge

(postpositive foll by to) having a particular liking (for)

botany

constituting part of a larger structurea partial umbel
used for only part of the life cycle of a planta partial habitat
(of a parasite) not exclusively parasitic

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

noun

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

maths a partial derivative

Derived Formspartially, adverbpartialness, noun

Word Origin for partial

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

xref

See partly

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for partial

adj.

early 15c., "one-sided, biased," from Old French parcial (14c., Modern French partial), from Medieval Latin partialis "divisible, solitary, partial," from Latin pars (genitive partis) "part" (see part (n.)). Sense of "not whole, incomplete" is attested from late 14c. Related: Partially (mid-15c. as "incompletely").