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. postpositivefoll byto 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 calledpartial 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

Usage

See partly

Derived Forms

• ˈpartialness, noun
• ˈpartially, adverb

Other Words From

• par·tial·ly adverb
• par·tial·ness noun
• non·par·tial adjective
• o·ver·par·tial adjective
• o·ver·par·tial·ness 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

Earlier this year, Paul announced a partial compensation scheme for disappointed investors.

From BBC

However, partial data from several police forces in England and Wales shows at least 39,000 knives were surrendered.

From BBC

The Postal Service said that the 2025 list of stamps was a partial one and that additional stamps would be announced at a later date.

From Los Angeles Times

In the study, 10 children had parasites with genetic mutations previously associated with artemisinin partial resistance.

From Science Daily

Once the MOF is filled with CO2, the CO2 can be removed, or desorbed, by lowering the partial pressure of CO2, either by flushing with a different gas or putting it in a vacuum.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• one-sided
• unfair