Etymologically
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partake

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Pronunciation

  • /pɑɹˈteɪk/, /pɑːˈteɪk/[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from partaker,[2][3][4][5][6] or from partaker and partaking;[7][8][9] Dictionary.com derives it from partaking alone.[10] The OED calls it "apparently" a back-formation, with the past tense and past participle later remodelled after take.[7] The noun partaker (1547) goes back to Middle English part-taker (“sharer, participant”),[11][12] formed from part and taker,[12][11] and part takynge is found about 1384.[11] Both are translations of Latin particeps (“sharing; a participant”),[2][3][9][6] which the “Catholicon Anglicum” glossed as parte-taker.[6] Weekley calls part-taker a hybrid compound and compares German Teilnehmer.[6] Dictionary.com takes part taking as a translation of Latin participātiō.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

To take sides, with or against someone: 1546, in a Scottish letter.[7] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster first find it in 1561, meaning to share or to have a share.[11][4]

Semantic evolution

Before the verb existed, English said to take part or to take a part, and the OED links the verb's two early groups of senses to these phrases.[7] The sense of taking sides died out after 1651 (a Scottish transitive use is recorded in the 1860s and 1870s).[7] The main sense, to have a share in something with others, dates from 1561,[7][4] and in the same years the verb could also mean to give someone a share of something, especially news, to impart (1561–1616), and to inform someone (1565–1590).[7][8] From 1569 it meant to receive or enjoy a portion, often with no idea of sharing,[7] which led to the modern use for eating or drinking.[13] The sense "to have something of the nature of", as in partake of, dates from about 1585 in the OED;[7] Etymonline dates it to the 1610s.[9] Johnson (1755) gave "to share; to have part in", quoting Shakespeare and Milton.[14]

Timeline

  • 1546 – to take sides (obsolete by 1651).[7]
  • 1561 – to take a share in, participate.[7][4][11]
  • 1561 – to impart, share news with others (obsolete by 1616).[7][8]
  • 1563 – transitive, to share in something.[7]
  • 1569 – to receive or enjoy a portion.[7]
  • c. 1585 – to have qualities in common with something.[7] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1610s.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To eat or drink something, especially what is offered: The guests partook of the wine and cheese.[13][4]
  2. To take part or share in an activity or experience; to participate: Everyone partook in the celebrations.[13][4][7]
  3. To have something of a certain quality or nature: Her paintings partake of both realism and fantasy.[13][4][7]
  4. (obsolete, 1561–1616) To give a share of something, especially news, to others; to impart.[7][8]

Word family

  • partaker
  • partakable
  • unpartaken
  • unpartaking

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  3. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  11. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  12. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  13. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.