Etymology

part

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Today it means: A fraction of a whole. Full definition →

Middle English part ← Old English part ← Latin partem
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part · noun1

  1. Old Frenchpart
  2. Latinpartem
  3. Old Englishpart
  4. Middle Englishpart
  5. English todaypart

From Middle English part, from Old English part (“part”) and Old French part (“part”); both from Latin partem, accusative of pars (“piece, portion, share, side, party, faction, role, character, lot, fate, task, lesson, part, member”), from Proto-Indo-European *par-, *per- (“to sell, exchange”). Akin to Latin portiō (“a portion, part”), parāre (“to make ready, prepare”). Displaced Middle English del, dele (“part”) (from Old English dǣl (“part, distribution”) > Modern English deal (“portion; amount”)), Middle English dale, dole (“part, portion”) (from Old English dāl (“portion”) > Modern English dole), Middle English sliver (“part, portion”) (from Middle English sliven (“to cut, cleave”), from Old English (tō)slifan (“to split”)).

part · verb2

  1. Proto-Indo-European*perh₃-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*pérh₃tis?
  3. Proto-Italic*partis
  4. Latinpars
  5. Latinpartīre
  6. Old Frenchpartir
  7. Middle Englishparten
  8. English todaypart

Inherited from Middle English parten, borrowed from Old French partir.

part · adjective, adverb3

  1. Middle English · inherited frompart
  2. English todaypart

From Middle English part, from the noun.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.