Etymologically
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participation

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /pɑːˌtɪs.ɪˈpeɪ.ʃən/, US /pɑːrˌtɪs.əˈpeɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English participacioun, borrowed from Old French participacion and directly borrowed from Late Latin participātiō (“partaking”) (accusative participationem),[2][3][4] a noun of action from the past participle stem of participāre (“to share in, partake of”),[2][4] from particeps (“partaker, comrade”), from pars “part” (see part) and -cip-, a weak form of capere “to take”,[2] from the PIE root Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to grasp”).[2] See participate.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action or fact of partaking, of having or forming part of something: about 1374 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Sharing in common with others is from 1432–50,[5] and taking part in an action or matter with others from 1667,[5] the main modern sense.[6][7] A participating bond or share is from 1931,[5] and participation mystique, an imaginative identification with people and things, from 1927.[5] Participational is from 1952.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1374 – partaking.[5]
  • 1432–50 – sharing in common.[5]
  • 1667 – taking part in an action.[5]
  • 1927 – participation mystique.[5]
  • 1931 – a participating share.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act of taking part or sharing in an activity or event.
  2. (finance) A share in profits, or a participating bond.

Word family

  • participational
  • nonparticipation
  • preparticipation
  • underparticipation

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins