Etymograph

English

partition

Partition comes from Latin partitio ‘division, portion’, from partitus ‘shared, parted, distributed, divided, having…’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *perh₃- ‘to grant’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*perh₃-1‘to grant’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*partis2‘part’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpars3‘part, piece’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartiō3‘share, part’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartior4as partire, past participle‘to split (up), part(ition)’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartitus4‘shared, parted, distributed, divided, having been shared’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartitio4‘division, portion’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400particion4
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500particioun4
  10. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599partition4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *partis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin pars
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin partior
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English partition
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.: “And good from bad find no partition.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*perh₃-Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *partis‘to grant’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*partisWiktionary, Latin pars‘part’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEparsWiktionary, Latin partior‘part, piece’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartiōWiktionary, Latin partior‘share, part’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartiorWiktionary, English partitionas partire, past participle‘to split (up), part(ition)’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartitusWiktionary, English partition‘shared, parted, distributed, divided, having been shared’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartitioWiktionary, English partition‘division, portion’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400particionWiktionary, English partition
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500particiounWiktionary, English partition
  10. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599partitionWiktionary, English partition. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.: “And good from bad find no partition.”

The story

Recorded c.1430, "division into shares, distinction," from Middle English particioun, from Old French particion (modern partition), from Latin partitio, partitionem (‘division, portion’), from partitus, the past participle of partire (‘to split (up), part(ition)’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *perh₃- ‘to grant’

empire, experiment, expert, imperial, repair, preparation, parental, para, parity, imperium, imperious, pare, rampart, 35 more

through Proto-Italic *partis ‘part’

particularity, 16 more

through Latin pars ‘part, piece’

particular, participate, participation, parcel, parse, particulate, 17 more

through Latin partiō ‘share, part’

depart, impart, bipartite, 8 more

through Latin partior ‘to split (up), part(ition)’

repartee, parter, 5 more

through Latin partitus ‘shared, parted, distributed, divided, having…’

party, 2 more

Today it means

noun An action which divides a thing into parts, or separates one thing from another.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “partition”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *partis, Latin pars, Latin partior. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *perh₃- / partition

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