partial

Existing as a part or portion; incomplete.

Adjective

  1. Existing as a part or portion; incomplete.
    • So far, I have only pieced together a partial account of the incident.
  2. Describing a property that holds only when an algorithm terminates.
    • It's easy to prove partial correctness, but it's not obvious that it is also totally correct.
  3. Biased in favor of a person, side, or point of view, especially when dealing with a competition or dispute.
    • The referee is blatantly partial!
    • God is not partial; he does not play favorites.
    • 17th century, Alexander Pope, a letter partial parent

    Synonyms: nonimpartial

    Antonyms: impartial

  4. Having a predilection for something.
    • not partial to an ostentatious display - 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst,...
    • But if a woman is partial to a man, and does not endeavour to conceal it, he must find it out. - 1817, Jane Austen, chapter 6, in Pride and Prejudice, page 32:
    • of

    Synonyms: fond

  5. Of or relating to a partial derivative or partial differential.
  6. Subordinate.
  7. Having a wordplay element, but no definition.
    • Twelve six- letter lights form a group; these have only partial clues. - 1982 07, The Listener:
    • Fourteen solutions are men of a kind. Each begins with a different letter, and their (partial) clues begin with the same letter as their solutions. - 1996 February 5, “New York Magazine”, in (Please provide the book...

Origin

From Middle English partiall, parcial, from Old French parcial (“biased or particular”), from Late Latin partiālis (“of or pertaining to a part”), from Latin pars (“part”).

Forms

more partial most partial

Synonyms

partite fractional demi- semi-

Related

part partly

Derived

activated partial thromboplastin time impartial impartiality impartially nonpartial over-partial overpartial partial application partial autocorrelation partial-birth abortion partial calque partial charge partial cloverleaf interchange partial dependency partial differential equation partial discharge partial discharge extinction voltage partial discharge inception voltage partial equilibrium partial evaluation partial false friend partial fraction partial function partial function application

Noun

  1. A partial derivative: a derivative with respect to one independent variable of a function in multiple variables while holding the other variables constant.
  2. Any of the sine waves which make up a complex tone; often an overtone or harmonic of the fundamental.
  3. dentures that replace only some of the natural teeth
  4. An incomplete fingerprint
  5. A fragment of a template containing markup.
    • In fact, as seen in Chapters 5 and 6, the resulting document is usually the product of rendering a layout, which yields the rendering of the template at hand, which in turn can invoke the rendering of other templates...
  6. The condition of not exhausting the amplitude during the repetition of an exercise.
    • Research tells us that eccentrics, heavy partials, and static exercise may require several days or weeks of recovery time. - 2021, Edward L. Wallace, Omniflex: A Unified System of Strength Training:

    Synonyms: half rep

  7. A fursuit that does not fully cover the wearer's body.

    Coordinate Terms: fullsuit

Forms

partials

Verb

  1. To take the partial regression coefficient.

Forms

partials participle (US) partialing partialling participle (US) partialed partialled