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

• partialness noun
• partially adverb
• 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

But almost every silhouette was inspired after a specific design she used for almost all her shirts: a boxy shape with four front pockets and partial buttons, similar to a smock.

From Los Angeles Times

That partial victory may mean renewed scrutiny on regulations that some sports say are needed to protect fairness in the female category, but which critics argue are unethical and discriminatory.

From BBC

"We valued it - and it's a partial valuation at £2.9bn per year in Great Britain."

From BBC

But Roberts rejected the suggestion that her character's partial support of Hank and doubting of Maggie revives a damaging anti-feminist narrative.

From BBC

The decision was a partial win for Anthropic.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• one-sided 
• unfair