part

Less common meanings

7. 7
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A portion that is less than the whole of something, whether an amount, a stretch of time, a group, or a problem.

   Part of the crowd left before the encore to beat the traffic.

   Rising rents explain part of the problem, but stagnant wages matter just as much.

   UsageUsually no article: part of the crowd, part of the problem. With an adjective: a large part of.

   Similarportion, section

   Oppositewhole

   Note

   Here it works much like some, marking off a share without saying how large.

8. 8
   money sharenouncountable

   A share, especially of a profit.

   She gave her part of the prize to charity.

   When the business was sold, each founder received a part of the profits that matched what they had invested.

   UsageUsually with a possessive: my part, her part of the money.

   Similarshare, portion

   Note

   The sense of spoils and profits keeps an old meaning alive, because the Latin source, pars, already meant share and lot as well as piece. Without the possessive it tends to slide back toward the plain sense of a piece. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The noun part ultimately comes from Latin pars. en.wiktionary.org
   • Latin pars meant share and lot as well as piece. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   split apartverbtransitive

   To divide or separate into parts, or to move apart, as of things or people.

   The heavy stage curtains slowly parted, and the audience fell silent.

   The referee stepped in to part the two players before the shoving match got worse.

   UsageOften of things that close again: part the curtains, part the crowd. Also with no object: the clouds parted.

   Similarseparate, divide, split, open

   Note

   The verb came by its own route, from Old French partir, rather than being made from the noun. Its objects are often things that close back together, like curtains or willow branches, and parting them opens a way through. Mark Twain's narrator does this to hide a canoe. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The English verb was borrowed through Middle English from Old French partir, independently of the English noun. en.wiktionary.org
   • In Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the narrator parts willow branches to conceal a canoe. gutenberg.org
10. 10
    go separate waysverbintransitive

    To leave someone's company or go away from a place; to separate and say goodbye.

    After four years as roommates, we parted on good terms and still write to each other.

    We hugged at the gate, neither of us ready to part after such a long visit.

    UsageName the other person with from: part from a friend. Also common: part on good terms, part company.

    Similarseparate, leave

    Oppositemeet

11. 11
    verbintransitive

    To give up or let go of something one would prefer to keep, followed by with.

    Serious collectors rarely part with their best pieces, even for a high price.

    She was reluctant to part with the letters her father had written her during the war.

    UsageOften used in negative expressions or to show reluctance: rarely part with, hated to part with. Part from is usually for people.

12. 12
    mixing rationouncountable

    One of a set of equal measures used to express the proportions of ingredients in a mixture.

    Add one part cement to four of sand.

    A basic mortar can be made with one part cement to three parts sand.

    UsageNumber, then part or parts, then the substance, linked by to: one part cement to four parts sand.

    Note

    No size is fixed here: a part can be a teaspoon or a bucket, as long as every ingredient is counted in the same measure. Cocktail recipes use it the same way, as in two parts gin to one part vermouth. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • A part has no fixed size; the same chosen measure must be used consistently for all ingredients. oakhillhomestead.com
    • Cocktail recipes can specify two parts gin to one part vermouth. londonvermouthcompany.com
13. 13
    hair linenounUScountable

    The line on the scalp where the hair is divided by combing it to either side.

    A center part suits a round face.

    He has worn his hair with a side part since he was a boy.

    UsageOften a side part or a center part; many speakers elsewhere say a parting.

14. 14
    music linenouncountable

    In music, the line played or sung by a particular instrument, voice or group in a piece for several performers.

    The second violins struggled with their part, which was full of fast, tricky runs.

    The choir sang a fugue in four parts, one for each group of voices.

    Similarline, voice

    Note

    In music, each line of a many-voiced piece is a part, named for whoever plays or sings it. An ordinal often comes first, as in the first violin part, because one kind of instrument is often split into sections that play different lines. Unlike the actor's role, a musical part is defined by its notes rather than by a character. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Players of the same kind of instrument are often divided into sections playing different musical lines, as with first and second violins. symphonynovascotia.ca
15. 15
    adjective

    Fractional or partial, rather than full.

    Her uncle is part owner of a small fishing boat, so she spent her summers working on the water.

    The company offered him part ownership of the business instead of a higher salary.

    UsageBefore a noun, in phrases like part owner and part payment.

    Similarpartial

    Oppositefull, whole, sole

    Note

    The adjective was formed from the noun and stands before another noun, as in part owner. It marks a share held with others: Fred, as part owner of the car, owns some of it alongside someone else. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The adjective part was formed from the noun. en.wiktionary.org
16. 16
    comb hairverbtransitive

    To comb or cut hair so that it divides along a line.

    The barber parted it with a single stroke.

    Don't part it so far over, it looks odd.

    UsageUsually part your hair on the left, on the right or in the middle.

17. 17
    genitalsnouncolloquialeuphemisticcountable

    A euphemistic term for the genitals.

    The small towel barely covered his parts as he dashed back to the locker room.

    A kick to his parts left him doubled over on the grass.

    UsageUsually plural, and the fuller form is private parts. Fine in polite company, though it can sound coy.

    Similarprivates, genitals

18. 18
    side (argument)nouncountable

    Either of two contrasting sides of an argument or dispute.

    Nobody took the stranger's part.

    Whenever my parents argued, my sister always took Dad's part, no matter who was right.

    UsageMostly in take someone's part: took her brother's part.

    Similarside

    Note

    Seventeenth-century writers called the sides of a dispute parts, in frames like on the contrary part, on our part and take her brother's part. The Bible's "he that is not against us is on our part" means on our side, not a share of us. Hand is the closest modern match, since on the contrary part comes near to on the other hand. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • Seventeenth-century English used “part” for a contrasting side of an argument. en.wiktionary.org
    • “On the contrary part” occurs in seventeenth-century writing. hyperessays.net
    • “Take her brother's part” occurs in seventeenth-century writing. gutenberg.org
    • The Bible contains the quoted wording “he that is not against us is on our part.” en.wikisource.org
    • “On our part” in this biblical passage means supporting our side. en.wikisource.org
19. 19
    talentsnouncountable

    A quality, faculty, or talent of character or capacity, usually plural with a collective sense.

    A writer of many parts, he also composed music and designed his own book covers.

    Even as a young lawyer she was a woman of parts, quick in argument and patient with difficult clients.

    UsageMostly in a man of parts or a woman of many parts.

    Similartalent, quality, ability, gift

    Note

    An old way to praise ability: parts are the qualities and talents that make up a mind. Burke's men of considerable parts are men of great ability, and Macaulay's great quickness of parts is a quick intelligence. Shakespeare could still use the singular for a single good quality. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Edmund Burke wrote 'men of considerable parts', referring to men with substantial abilities. gutenberg.org
    • Macaulay used 'great quickness of parts' to describe intellectual quickness. gutenberg.org
    • Shakespeare used singular 'part' for an individual good quality. gutenberg.org
20. 20
    factor (math)noundatedcountable

    In mathematics, a factor; a number that divides another exactly.

    Similarfactor, divisor

    Note

    Older mathematics used the word for a number that divides another exactly, so 3 is a part of 12. The usage is now dated. Current writing says factor or divisor, which avoids confusion with the everyday sense of a piece. A modern reader might take a part of 12 to mean any piece of it. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Older mathematics used part for a number that divides another exactly. mathcs.clarku.edu
    • 3 is a part of 12 in this mathematical sense. en.wiktionary.org
21. 21
    give out sharesverbarchaictransitive

    To divide something up and share it out.

    They parted my raiment among them.

    1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version

    to part his throne, and share his heaven with thee

    c. 1699, Alexander Pope, “The First Book of Statius His Thebais”

    Note

    Dividing things up to share them is now rare and lives mostly in older scripture and verse. The usual pattern names what is divided and among whom: they parted my raiment among them, or a king parting his imperial state among three sons. In Tyndale's "let him parte with him that hath none," part with means share with, which is easy to misread today. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • The biblical wording uses parted to mean divided and shared among recipients. en.wikisource.org
    • The verse example describes a king dividing his imperial state among three sons. gutenberg.org
    • Tyndale's translation contains the quoted wording, with part with meaning share with. wesley.nnu.edu
22. 22
    take a shareverbobsolete

    To have a share in something; to partake.

    They shall part alike.

    1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version

    Note

    In this obsolete use the subject receives rather than gives, and to part was to have one's share. The 1611 Bible's "they shall part alike" means they shall share equally. Modern English says share or partake. Used this way today, the verb would be read as dividing or as leaving someone. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • The obsolete verb meant to have or receive a share. en.wiktionary.org
    • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. neh.gov
    • The Bible contains the exact words 'they shall part alike', meaning that the recipients shall share equally, in 1 Samuel 30:24. en.wikisource.org
23. 23
    verb

    To isolate one substance from another by extracting, eliminating, or secreting it.
24. 24
    verb

    To leave an IRC chat channel.
25. 25
    nounUS

    In a public building, a separate room, especially one serving as a courtroom.
26. 26
    noun

    A tiny measure of time used in reckoning the Jewish calendar, one 1,080th of an hour.
27. 27
    verbobsolete

    To keep people or things separated, or to come between them.

    The stumbling night did part our weary powers.

    c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”