part

play

noun \ ˈpärt \

Definition of part

1 a (1) :one of the often indefinite or unequal subdivisions into which something is or is regarded as divided and which together constitute the whole

… the road was passable only part of the year …
—Samuel Johnson

(2) :an essential portion or integral element

Change is an inevitable part of life.

b :one of several or many equal units of which something is composed or into which it is divisible :an amount equal to another amount

mix one part of the powder with three parts of water

c (1) :an exact divisor of a quantity :aliquot

(2) :partial fraction

d :one of the constituent elements of a plant or animal body: such as

(1) :organ, member

The stomach is part of the digestive system.

(2) parts plural :private parts

e :a division of a literary work

a novel in four parts

f (1) :a vocal or instrumental line or melody in concerted music or in harmony

(2) :a particular voice or instrument in concerted music; also :the score for it

the violin part

g :a constituent member of a machine or other apparatus

the parts of an airplane

; also :a spare part

automobile parts

2 :something falling to one in a division or apportionment :share

wanted no part of the proposal

3 :one's share or allotted task (as in an action) :duty

one must do one's part

4 :one of the opposing sides in a conflict or dispute

he that is not against us is on our part
—Mark 9:40 (King James Version)

5 :a general area of indefinite boundaries —usually used in plural

you're not from around these parts

took off for parts unknown

6 :a function or course of action performed

objected to the government's part in the strike

7 a :an actor's lines in a play

The actress learned her part well.

b :the role of a character in a play

played the part of the villain

8 :a constituent of character or capacity :talent

a man of many parts

9 :the line where the hair is parted

His part was on the left side of his head.

— for one's part

:as far as one's share or interest is concerned

for my part, I do not see that the difference is important
—Mary McCarthy

— for the most part

:in general :on the whole

for the most part the crowd was orderly

— in part

:in some degree :partially

— on one's part or on the part of one

:with regard to the one specified

See part defined for English-language learners

See part defined for kids

Examples of part in a Sentence

The entire book is good, but the best part is the ending.
I don't remember him saying that. I must have missed that part.
The mechanic had to order the part from the manufacturer.
The parts of a radio include the speaker, dials, and antenna.
Do you have any spare parts for this model of car?
the moving parts of the machine
parts of the human body
My favorite part of the chicken is the drumstick.
a diagram labeling the different parts of the flower
Come join us and be part of a winning team.

Recent Examples of part from the Web

As part of that, small lenders had to give up the process of servicing mortgages, which meant losing an income stream.

— joe light, Bloomberg.com, "Fannie-Freddie Reform Might Hinge on Keeping Small Lenders Happy," 20 July 2017
This week, the opposition pledged to form a transitional government as part of its effort to force new elections.

— rachelle krygier, Washington Post, "Opposition strike paralyzes parts of Venezuela as fears of violence mount," 20 July 2017
Norberto Galiotti, the cigar-smoking secretary of Rosario’s Communist Party, regards the foundation’s campaign as a part of a pernicious effort to erase Che from history, led by the country’s centre-right president, Mauricio Macri.

— The Economist, "Challenging the cult of Che Guevara," 20 July 2017
Isn’t this part of the appeal of consuming art by young people?

— meaghan o'connell, Longreads, "Girl Wonder," 20 July 2017
The panel has been investigating one of the participants at the Trump Jr. meeting, Russian-American lobbyist and former Soviet military officer Rinat Akhmetshin, as part of its probe into the law.

— mary clare jalonick, chicagotribune.com, "Russian lawyer who met Trump Jr. ready to testify in Senate," 19 July 2017
Join the Young At Art Museum from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at D.C. Alexander Park on Fort Lauderdale Beach to take part in a collective art-making experience.

— jennifer jhon, South Florida Parenting, "Best events for kids this weekend: Free museum day, fun fests," 19 July 2017
A series of studies suggests that this joblessness might have been—at least in part—contributing to the high rates of drug addiction.

— olga khazan, The Atlantic, "How Job Loss Can Lead to Drug Use," 19 July 2017
The essay is available online as part of The New School History Project, a site where students curate a trove of recovered archival material to provoke critical and informed discussion.

— catherine cusick, longreads.com, "Tennessee Williams’ Catastrophe of Success," 19 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'part.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of part

Middle English, from Anglo-French & Old English, both from Latin part-, pars; perhaps akin to Latin parare to prepare — more at pare

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

part Synonyms

Synonyms

member, partition, portion, section, segment

Related Words

component, constituent, element, factor, ingredient, moiety, parcel; cut, length; bit, fragment, particle, scrap

Near Antonyms

whole; aggregate, composite, compound, sum, total, totality

Synonym Discussion of part

part, portion, piece, member, division, section, segment, fragment mean something less than the whole. part is a general term appropriate when indefiniteness is required.

- they ran only part of the way

portion implies an assigned or allotted part.

- cut the pie into six portions

piece applies to a separate or detached part of a whole.

- a puzzle with 500 pieces

member suggests one of the functional units composing a body.

- a structural member

division applies to a large or diversified part.

- the manufacturing division of the company

section applies to a relatively small or uniform part.

- the entertainment section of the newspaper

segment applies to a part separated or marked out by or as if by natural lines of cleavage.

- the retired segment of the population

fragment applies to a part produced by or as if by breaking off.

- only a fragment of the play still exists

part

verb

Definition of part

intransitive verb

1 a :to separate from or take leave of someone

b :to take leave of one another

2 :to become separated into parts

3 a :to go away :depart

b :die

4 :to become separated, detached, or broken

5 :to relinquish possession or control

hated to part with that money

transitive verb

1 a :to divide into parts

b :to separate by combing on each side of a line

c :to break or suffer the breaking of (something, such as a rope or anchor chain)

2 :to divide into shares and distribute :apportion

3 a :to remove from contact or association

if aught but death part thee and me
—Ruth 1:17 (King James Version)

b :to keep separate

the narrow channel that parts England from France

c :to hold (people, such as brawlers) apart

d :to separate by a process of extraction, elimination, or secretion

4 a archaic :leave, quit

b dialectal British :relinquish, give up

— part company

1 :to end a relationship or association

2 :to diverge from another (as in opinion) —often used with with

See part defined for English-language learners

Examples of part in a Sentence

The crowd parted to let the president through.
The rain stopped and the clouds parted.
The big red curtains parted to reveal a new car!
The Bible tells the story of how God parted the Red Sea.
She closed her eyes and parted her lips.
She parts her hair on the side.
His dark hair was parted down the middle.
The two lovers parted at dawn.
Tomorrow we shall part and, I fear, never see each other again.
She couldn't bear the thought of parting from her family.

Recent Examples of part from the Web

Gase joined Miami in 2016, and Cutler parted with Chicago in March after eight seasons.

— steven wine, The Seattle Times, "AP source: Jay Cutler agrees to terms with Dolphins," 6 Aug. 2017
The two parted on relatively O.K. terms back in Season 4. when Bronn allowed Cersei to buy his loyalties and refused to fight on Tyrion’s behalf during the trial by combat.

— joanna robinson, vanityfair.com, "Game of Thrones: 8 Easter Eggs and Callbacks You Might Have Missed in “The Queen’s Justice”," 1 Aug. 2017
Restaurant dish Chef Fred Ryan and Chick’s, the recently two-belled newcomer on Washington Avenue, have parted company.

— michael klein, Philly.com, "Let's Eat: Fishtown in the spotlight," 26 July 2017
Be sure to part hair in the middle so one bun isn't bigger than the other.

— sasha henriques, Woman's Day, "The 10 Best Back-to-School Hairstyles for Kids," 25 July 2017
Part your hair into small sections, and create tiny cornrows in fun designs.

— maya allen, Cosmopolitan, "3 Ridiculously Cool Textured Braids You'll Want to Wear Now," 21 July 2017
The promoters have found lots of ways to part otaku from their money.

— The Economist, "BanyanNo one is well-served by sexism in Japan," 13 July 2017
Vazquez added that BARC’s adoption agreements require owners who want to part company with dogs adopted from the shelter to return them there rather than shunting them off on a third party.

— kyle smith, National Review, "Dog-Dumping Millennial-Style, Starring Lena Dunham," 11 July 2017
The passage in question was from the fourth volume of his Zohar, a commentary on Exodus 14, in which God parts the Red Sea for the Jews fleeing Egypt.

— alexander nazaryan, Newsweek, "Zohar's Translation Unlocks the Secrets of Jewish Mysticism in an Age of Extremism," 28 June 2017

Origin and Etymology of part

Middle English, from Anglo-French partir, from Latin partire to divide, from part-, pars

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

See Words from the same year

part Synonyms

Synonyms

branch (out), diverge, divide, fork, separate, spread

Antonyms

converge, join

Related Words

bestrew, break up, broadcast, clear out, disband, dispel, disperse, dissipate, distribute, scatter, sow; distance, recede, retreat

Near Antonyms

assemble, gather, meet

Synonym Discussion of part

separate, part, divide, sever, sunder, divorce mean to become or cause to become disunited or disjointed. separate may imply any of several causes such as dispersion, removal of one from others, or presence of an intervening thing.

- separated her personal life from her career

part implies the separating of things or persons in close union or association.

- vowed never to part

divide implies separating into pieces or sections by cutting or breaking.

- civil war divided the nation

sever implies violence especially in the removal of a part or member.

- a severed limb

sunder suggests violent rending or wrenching apart.

- a city sundered by racial conflict

divorce implies separating two things that commonly interact and belong together.

- cannot divorce scientific research from moral responsibility

part

adverb

Definition of part

:partly

See part defined for English-language learners

Examples of part in a Sentence

The story is part science and part fiction.
The Chimera is a monster in Greek mythology that is part lion, part goat, and part serpent.

First Known Use of part

15th century

part Synonyms

Synonyms

half, halfway, incompletely, partly, partially, partway

Antonyms

all, altogether, completely, entirely, fully, perfectly, quite, totally, utterly, wholly

Related Words

fragmentarily; enough, fairly, kindly [chiefly Southern], kind of, like, moderately, more or less, pretty, quite, rather, relatively, something, somewhat, sort of

Near Antonyms

absolutely, dead, downright, plain; especially, exceedingly (also exceeding), exceptionally, extremely, greatly, highly, hugely, particularly, very

part

adjective

Definition of part

:partial 1

See part defined for English-language learners

Examples of part in a Sentence

The claim is a part truth—there is more to the story than they are telling you.

Recent Examples of part from the Web

For a musician who has always been part pop artist, part actor, all these excursions make a strange kind of sense.

— scott timberg, latimes.com, "A master pop interpreter, Bryan Ferry shares his secret — to approach a song 'the way jazz players do'," 24 Aug. 2017
Similarly, the football players took part Wednesday night in a vigil.

— george schroeder, USA TODAY, "Virginia football team responds to Charlottesville violence with resolve to inspire unity," 17 Aug. 2017
There’s just not part-time people getting into it right now,’’ said Detherage, who has two firefighter/paramedic open positions.

— chris mayhew, Cincinnati.com, "Fire departments take aim at paramedic shortage," 27 July 2017
The proposal included calls to allow Metro to hire more part-time employees, and allow management to fix work schedules without being subject to outside arbitration.

— robert mccartney, Washington Post, "Despite criticisms, new study finds Metro workers’ pay and benefits are typical for industry.," 20 July 2017
This is not the first time that Leigh’s memorabilia has been part high-profile auction.

— hilary weaver, Vanities, "Own Vivien Leigh’s Streetcar Named Desire Wig, Complete with Inscription," 11 July 2017
This is not the first time that Leigh’s memorabilia has been part high-profile auction.

— hilary weaver, vanityfair.com, "Own Vivien Leigh’s Streetcar Named Desire Wig, Complete with Inscription," 11 July 2017
Now part way through his four-year term as mayor, Ganim is one of several Democrats and Republicans looking at running for governor in the wake of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's decision not to seek reelection.

— gregory b. hladky, courant.com, "Elections Panel Rejects Ganim Bid For Public Campaign Financing," 17 May 2017
Blumenfeld expects the project to provide two to three hundred construction jobs, and Live Nation estimates about that number of full and part time jobs once the venue is up and running.

— dan deluca, Philly.com, "North Broad's majestic Met to open as a Live Nation music venue in 2018," 4 May 2017

First Known Use of part

15th century

part

abbreviation

Definition of part

1 participial; participle

2 particular

PART Defined for English Language Learners

part

play

noun

Definition of part for English Language Learners

: one of the pieces, sections, qualities, etc., that make or form something
: one of the pieces that are put together to form a machine
: one of the pieces or areas of the body of a plant or animal

part

adverb

Definition of part for English Language Learners

: somewhat but not completely : to some extent or in some degree

part

adjective

Definition of part for English Language Learners

: not complete or total

PART Defined for Kids

part

play

noun \ ˈpärt \

Definition of part for Students

1 :one of the sections into which something is divided

This is the best part of the movie.

That wasn't part of our agreement.

2 :some of something

My dog is part husky.

I spent part of my day reading.

3 :a general area

She moved to another part of the state.

4 :a piece of a machine

5 :one of the sides or aspects

The best part of camp is making new friends.

6 :the role of a character in a play

7 :a line along which the hair is divided

8 :a person's share or duty

I did my part for the team.

9 :the music for a voice or instrument

the soprano part

10 :a voice or instrument

four-part harmony

11 :a piece of a plant or animal body

— for the most part

:with few exceptions :on the whole

They were, for the most part, very pleased.

Word Root of part

The Latin word pars, meaning “part,” and its form partis give us the root part. Words from the Latin pars have something to do with a part, section, or portion. To participate is to take part in some activity. Anything partial involves only part of something. A particle is a tiny bit or portion of something. It is easy to see that part itself also comes directly from pars in both form and meaning.

Synonym Discussion of part

part, portion, and section mean something less than the whole to which it belongs. part is used when something is taken away from the whole or thought of as being separate from the rest.

- A part of the room is used for storage.

portion is used when a whole has been divided into assigned parts.

- Cut the pie into six portions.

section is used if the parts of the whole are recognizable and have been separated by or as if by cutting.

- This newspaper has four sections.

part

verb

Definition of part for Students

parted; parting

1 :to leave each other

They parted at the intersection.

2 :to separate the hair by combing on each side of a line

3 :to give up possession of

She won't part with her money.

4 :to hold apart

He parted the curtains.

5 :to come apart

The crowd parted to let us through.

6 :to divide into parts

part.

abbreviation

Definition of part. for Students

participle

Medical Dictionary

part

play

noun \ ˈpärt \

medical Definition of part

1 :one of several or many like units into which something is divided or of which it is composed :a proportional division or ingredient

mix the powder with three parts of water

2 :a portion of an animal body: as

a :an essential anatomical element :organ, member

the chief parts of the digestive system are the esophagus, stomach, intestine, and associated glands

b :an indefinite area or one lacking or not considered in respect to a natural boundary

bathe the affected part with warm water

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