Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
partial
par′tial
(pär′shal)
, Adj.
 [F., fr. LL. ] 
partials
, fr. L. pars
, gen. partis
, a part; cf. (for sense 1) F. partiel
. See Part
, Noun.
1. 
Of, pertaining to, or affecting, a part only; not general or universal; not total or entire; 
“Partial dissolutions of the earth.” as, a 
. partial 
eclipse of the moonT. Burnet.
 2. 
Inclined to favor one party in a cause, or one side of a question, more then the other; biased; not indifferent; 
as, a judge should not be 
. partial
Ye have been 
partial 
in the law. Mal. ii. 9.
3. 
Having a predilection for; inclined to favor unreasonably; foolishly fond. 
“A partial parent.” Pope.
 Not 
partial 
to an ostentatious display. Sir W. Scott.
4. 
(Bot.) 
Pertaining to a subordinate portion; 
as, a compound umbel is made up of a several 
 partial 
umbels; a leaflet is often supported by a partial 
petiole.Partial differentials
, Partial differential coefficients
, Partial differentiation
etc. (of a function of two or more variables), the differentials, differential coefficients, differentiation etc., of the function, upon the hypothesis that some of the variables are for the time constant. 
– Partial fractions 
(Alg.)
, fractions whose sum equals a given fraction. 
– Partial tones 
(Music)
, the simple tones which in combination form an ordinary tone; the overtones, or harmonics, which, blending with a fundamental tone, cause its special quality of sound, or timbre, or tone color. See, also, 
 Tone
.Webster 1828 Edition
Partial
P`ARTIAL
,Adj.
 1.
  Biased to one party; inclined to favor one party in a cause, or one side of a question, more than the other; not indifferent.  It is important to justice that a judge should not be partial. Self-love will make men partial to themselves and friends.
2.
  Inclined to favor without reason.  Authors are partial to their wit, and critics to their judgment.3.
  Affecting a part only; not general or universal; not total. It has been much disputed whether the deluge was partial or total. All partial evil, universal good.
4.
  More strongly inclined to one thing than to others. [Colloquial.]5.
  In botany, subordinate; applied to subdivisions; as a partial umbel or umbellicle; a partial peduncle.  A partial involucre is placed at the foot of a partial umbel.Definition 2025
partial
partial
English
Adjective
partial (comparative more partial, superlative most partial)
-  Existing as a part or portion; incomplete.
- So far, I have only pieced together a partial account of the incident.
 
-  (computer science) 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.
 
-  Biased in favor of a person, side, or point of view, especially when dealing with a competition or dispute.
- The referee is blatantly partial!
 -  Alexander Pope
- a partial parent
 
 
-  Having a predilection for something.
-  Sir Walter Scott
- not partial to an ostentatious display
 
 
-  Sir Walter Scott
Antonyms
- (biased): impartial
Derived terms
Terms derived from "partial"
Related terms
Translations
existing in part
| 
 | 
biased
Noun
partial (plural partials)
- (mathematics) A partial derivative: a derivative with respect to one independent variable of a function in multiple variables.
- (music) An overtone or harmonic.
- (dentistry) dentures that replace only some of the natural teeth
- (forensics) An incomplete fingerprint
-  (programming, Internet) A fragment of a template containing markup.
-  2009, Antonio Cangiano, Ruby on Rails for Microsoft Developers (page 356)
- 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 and/or one or more partials.
 
 
-  2009, Antonio Cangiano, Ruby on Rails for Microsoft Developers (page 356)