partial

[pahr-shuh l]

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

See more synonyms for partial on Thesaurus.com

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

Antonyms

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for partially

Contemporary Examples

I am personally guilty of thinking that the culture war can be at least partially won on style points.
Glenn Beck Is Now Selling Hipster Clothes. Really.
Ana Marie Cox
December 20, 2014
As with all criminal suspects, far too few police interrogations of people with ID are videotaped or only partially videotaped.
How the U.S. Justice System Screws Prisoners with Disabilities
Elizabeth Picciuto
December 16, 2014
Sex, then, is not wholly experiential but at least partially transactional.
Have Sperm, Will Travel: The ‘Natural Inseminators’ Helping Women Avoid the Sperm Bank
Elizabeth Picciuto
November 29, 2014
In response to hearing her story, Uber apologized for the "inefficient route" and partially refunded her fare.
The Ten Worst Uber Horror Stories
Olivia Nuzzi
November 19, 2014
In support of his assessment, he offers a number of tantalizing theories, only partially undergirded by fully explored evidence.
The Myth of the Central Park Five
Edward Conlon
October 19, 2014

Historical Examples

And their target is fairly protected and at least partially hidden.
Camps, Quarters and Casual Places
Archibald Forbes
Nat endeavoured to assume a seraphic expression, and partially succeeded.
The Fortune Hunter
Louis Joseph Vance
But Pete was still holding him fast, partially, beyond doubt, for support.
The Fortune Hunter
Louis Joseph Vance
But she saw that Mr. Galloway seemed to think it was hers, or that it was partially hers.
The Channings
Mrs. Henry Wood
Where did you obtain the money that you applied to liquidate, or partially to liquidate, your debts?
The Channings
Mrs. Henry Wood

British Dictionary definitions for partially

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
1. constituting part of a larger structurea partial umbel
2. used for only part of the life cycle of a planta partial habitat
3. (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

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 partially

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").

partial

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Synonyms

Antonyms

Examples from the Web for partially

Contemporary Examples

I am personally guilty of thinking that the culture war can be at least partially won on style points.

As with all criminal suspects, far too few police interrogations of people with ID are videotaped or only partially videotaped.

Sex, then, is not wholly experiential but at least partially transactional.

In response to hearing her story, Uber apologized for the "inefficient route" and partially refunded her fare.

In support of his assessment, he offers a number of tantalizing theories, only partially undergirded by fully explored evidence.

Historical Examples

And their target is fairly protected and at least partially hidden.

Nat endeavoured to assume a seraphic expression, and partially succeeded.

But Pete was still holding him fast, partially, beyond doubt, for support.

But she saw that Mr. Galloway seemed to think it was hers, or that it was partially hers.

Where did you obtain the money that you applied to liquidate, or partially to liquidate, your debts?

partial

Word Origin

xref

Word Origin and History for partially

partial

adj.

Origin of partial