late 14c., "not whole or total, incomplete;" early 15c., "one-sided, biased, inclined to favor one party in a cause or one side of a question more than the other," also "pertaining to a selfish interest rather than to a common or larger good," from Old French parcial (14c., Modern French partial) and directly from Medieval Latin partialis "divisible, solitary, partial," from Latin pars (genitive partis) "a part, piece, a share, a division" (from PIE root *pere- (2) "to grant, allot").
Weakened sense of "favorably disposed" is from 1580s. Meaning "affecting a part only, not universal or general" is by 1640s.
"one-sidedness, unjust or unreasonable preference for one party in a dispute or transaction," early 15c., parcialte, from Old French parcialite and directly from Medieval Latin partialitatem (nominative partialitas), from partialis "divisible; partial" (see partial).
*perə-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to grant, allot" (and reciprocally, "to get in return"); possibly related to *pere- (1) "to produce, procure."
It forms all or part of: apart; apartment; bipartient; bipartisan; bipartite; compartment; depart; department; ex parte; impart; jeopardy; multipartite; parcel; parse; part; partial; participate; participation; particle; particular; particulate; partisan; partition; partitive; partner; party; portion; proportion; quadripartite; repartee; tripartite.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit purtam "reward;" Hittite parshiya- "fraction, part;" Greek peprotai "it has been granted;" Latin partem (nominative pars) "a part, piece," portio "share, portion."
"partial dislocation," 1680s, from Latin subluxationem (nominative subluxatio).
"state of partial or incomplete dress," 1680s, from undress (v.). Meaning "ordinary dress" is from 1748.
"utopia," from title of a book published 1872 by British author Samuel Butler, a partial reversal of nowhere.
