mi-parti

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*per-“to go or pass through”
2. Latin · derived frompartīre
3. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*médʰyos“middle”
4. Latin · derived frommedius“half; in the centre, midway between”
5. Old French · derived frommi
6. Middle French · derived frommi“middle”
7. Old French · derived frommi-parti
8. Middle French · derived frommi-parti
9. French · learned borrowing frommi-parti
10. English todaymi-parti

The adjective is a learned borrowing from French mi-parti (literally “divided down the middle”), from Middle French mi-parti, from Old French mi-parti, an adjective use of the past participle of mi-partir (“to split in half”), from mi- (prefix meaning ‘half’) + partir (“to divide up”): * Mi- is from Middle French mi (“middle”), from Old French mi, mie (“middle”), ultimately from Latin medius (“half; in the centre, midway between”, adjective) and medium (“centre, middle”, noun), and from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“middle”, adjective). Compare medial. * Partir is from Latin partīre, the present active infinitive of partiō (“to apportion, divide”), from pars (“part, portion”, noun) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to go or pass through”) or *perh₂- (“to sell”)) + -iō (suffix forming fourth-conjugation verbs). Compare party (“divided”). Though the term is mentioned beginning in the 17th century, actual use is apparently mostly recorded from the 19th century onwards (but see the 1610 quotation). The noun is derived from the adjective.

Words from the same roots