parcial

Forms

parcial adjective^[1]

• partial^[2][3]

The early records have the plural forms parciaus (1282) and parciaulx.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin partiālis (“forming a part”),^[2][4][5] from pars (“part”).^[6] In Medieval Latin the adjective also meant "of one party, factious".^[7] Bloch and Wartburg note that the partisan sense is not recorded for the Latin adjective, but must have existed since its derivative Medieval Latin partialitas had it.^[8] Gamillscheg explains the later sense "partisan" by the influence of French parti (“party”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record the DEAF cites is a text written at Acre in 1282, where the adjective means "forming part of a whole".^[2][10]

Semantic evolution

The sense "forming part of a whole" runs through the DEAF's records, in a Picard cookery book of the late 13th century, in Jean de Vignay's translation of Vegetius about 1315 and in Oresme.^[2][11][12] Middle French also used it for "particular" and "different from others".^[4] The sense "attached to a party" is in Christine de Pizan,^[4] and a document of 1418 calls a man parcial et complice "partisan and accomplice" of the Armagnac party.^[13] The modern sense "biased" dates from about 1540,^[4] and the adjective is first used thus in Amyot in 1559.^[14] The sense "partial, incomplete" was then taken over by the newly shaped French partiel (1692),^[5] while modern French partial keeps the partisan meaning.^[15]

Timeline

• 1282 – parciaus in a text written at Acre.^[2][10]
• 1285–1300 – parciaulx in a cookery book with Picard features.^[2][11]
• c. 1315 – Jean de Vignay's translation of Vegetius.^[2][12]
• 1357 – first Anglo-Norman citation, as partial.^[3]
• 1418 – "attached to a party".^[13]
• 1559 – "biased" in Amyot.^[14]

Meanings

Adjective

1. forming part of a whole; partial, particular.^[2][1][4]
2. (Middle French) belonging to a party; partisan, biased.^[1][4][13]

Anglo-Norman

The AND heads the word partial, with the spelling parcial, and first cites it from 1357, in the senses "partial, incomplete" and "personal, individual".^[3] Middle English parcial, from Old French and Medieval Latin, meant not whole, part of something, of a selfish or individual interest, and unfairly biased.^[16] Etymonline dates English partial "incomplete" to the late 14th century and "one-sided, biased" to the early 15th.^[17]

Word family

• parcialité
• parcialement

Descendants

• Middle French parcial (→ French partial, French partiel)^[4][5]
• Middle English parcial (borrowed; → English partial)^[16][17]

Related words

• French partiel

Usage notes

Tobler–Lommatzsch heads the word parcïal and the DEAF parcial,^[1][2] Godefroy and the AND partial,^[18][3] and the DMF treats it under both partial and partiel.^[13][19]

References

1. ^ a b c d Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 7:205
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Baldinger, Kurt; Möhren, Frankwalt; Städtler, Thomas, eds. (1971–2021), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF), Heidelberg: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften; DEAFél / DEAFpré, deaf-server.adw.uni-heidelberg.de, p. s.v. parcial
3. ^ a b c d Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. partial
4. ^ a b c d e f g Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7:674
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. partiel
6. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. partialis
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France, p. 505
9. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 722
10. ^ a b Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. JAntRectD
11. ^ a b Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. ViandValS
12. ^ a b Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. JVignayVégL
13. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. partial
14. ^ a b Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
15. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. partial
16. ^ 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)
17. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
18. ^ Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon, p. 6:7
19. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. partiel