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

A valve designed to drain water from the plant’s fuel rods stuck open, yet operators mistakenly shut down water pumps, causing a partial meltdown.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This was never proven and a partial recount found no irregularities, though the decision did spark mass protests across the country.

Read more on BBC

Through all of this a partial picture emerges of Leman, but it remains always, to both Ms. Ypi and her readers, maddeningly incomplete.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The partial climbdown is not likely to result in an enormous bust-up – one of Angela Rayner's steadfast allies who pioneered the wider plans said they were a "little concerned" rather than frothing with rage.

Read more on BBC

But the partial remains already recovered give her hope that her search may soon be nigh.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• one-sided 
• unfair