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Origin and history of part

part(n.)

mid-13c., "division, portion of a whole, element or constituent (of something)," from Old French part "share, portion; character; power, dominion; side, way, path," from Latin partem (nominative pars) "a part, piece, a share, a division; a party or faction; a part of the body; a fraction; a function, office," related to portio "share, portion," from PIE root *pere- (2) "to grant, allot."

It has replaced native deal (n.) in most senses. Meaning "an allotted portion, a share" is from c. 1300; that of "a share of action or influence in activity or affairs, role, duty" is by late 14c. The theatrical sense (late 15c.) is from an actor's "share" in a performance (The Latin plural partis was used in the same sense). In music, "one of the voices or instruments in a concerted piece" (1520s). Sense of "separate piece of a machine" is by 1813.

Meaning "the division of the hair on the head when dressing it; the separation of the hair on the top of the head, from which it spread down on either side" is by 1890, American English; the earlier word for this was parting (1690s). The common Middle English word for it was shede, schede, from Old English scead, scad.

As an adjective from 1590s. Late Old English part "part of speech" did not survive and the modern word is considered a separate borrowing. Phrase for the most part "most, the greatest part" is from late 14c. To take part "participate" is from late 14c.

also from mid-13c.

part(v.)

c. 1200, parten "to depart, leave;" late 13c., "cause (things, persons) to separate;" from Old French partir "to divide, separate" (10c.), from Latin partire/partiri "to share, part, distribute, divide," from pars "a part, piece, a share" (from PIE root *pere- (2) "to grant, allot").

Meaning "divide" (something), especially "divide by cutting or cleaving" is from c. 1300; that of "to share something" (with others) is from early 14c. Of persons, "to separate from one another," early 14c., also intransitive, "draw or hold (persons) apart, separate by intervening." Intransitive sense of "become disunited" is from early 14c.; that of "be divided or severed" is from 1570s. Meaning "to separate the hair, comb the hair away from a dividing line" is attested from 1610s. Related: Parted; parting. To part with "surrender" is from 1580s; earlier it meant "to share with" (mid-13c.).

also from c. 1200

Entries linking to part

deal(n.1)

"a part or portion," Middle English del, from from Old English dæl "a part of a whole, a share;" with qualification (great, etc.), "an extent, degree, quantity, amount," from Proto-Germanic *dailaz (source also of Old Norse deild, Old Frisian del "part; juridical district," Dutch deel, Old High German and German teil, Gothic dails "part, share, portion"), from PIE *dail- "to divide" (source also of Old Church Slavonic delu, Lithuanian dalis "part"), ‌‌perhaps a Northern Indo-European extended form of the root *da- "to divide," or perhaps a substratum word.

Formerly used in many senses now taken by part. Meaning "a share (of something), one's allotted portion" is from c. 1200. Business sense of "transaction, bargain" is 1837, originally slang, from the older sense of "arrangement among a number of persons for mutual advantage." In American history, New Deal is from Franklin D. Roosevelt's speech of July 2, 1932 (the phrase itself is by 1834). Big deal is from 1928 as "important transaction;" ironic use first recorded 1951 in "Catcher in the Rye." Deal-breaker is attested by 1975.

champerty(n.)

late 14c., champertie, champartie, the illegal act whereby a person not otherwise interested makes a bargain to maintain a litigant in return for a share of the property in dispute if the case succeeds. It is a transferred use, from Old French champart "portion of produce received by a feudal lord from land held in lease from him" (13c.), from Medieval Latin campipartem, from campi pars "part of the field" (see campus + part (n.)).