Etymograph

English

partitive

Partitive comes from Latin partītus ‘shared, parted, distributed, divided, having…’, from pars ‘part, piece’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *perh₃- ‘to provide, produce, beget’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*perh₃-1‘to provide, produce, beget’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pérh₃tis1uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*partis1‘part’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpars1‘part, piece’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartiō2‘to share, part’uncertain
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartior2‘to share, part’uncertain
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartītus3‘shared, parted, distributed, divided, having been shared’
  8. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500partītīvus3
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500partitif3
  10. Englishtodaypartitive3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin partio
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin partitus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English partitive

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*perh₃-Wiktionary, Latin partio‘to provide, produce, beget’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pérh₃tisWiktionary, Latin partiouncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*partisWiktionary, Latin partio‘part’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEparsWiktionary, Latin partio‘part, piece’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartiōWiktionary, Latin partitus‘to share, part’uncertain
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartiorWiktionary, Latin partitus‘to share, part’uncertain
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartītusWiktionary, English partitive‘shared, parted, distributed, divided, having been shared’
  8. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500partītīvusWiktionary, English partitive
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500partitifWiktionary, English partitive
  10. EnglishtodaypartitiveWiktionary, English partitive

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *perh₃- ‘to provide, produce, beget’

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 ‘to share, part’

depart, impart, bipartite, 8 more

through Latin partior ‘to share, part’

repartee, parter, 5 more

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

party, 2 more

Today it means

adj That divides something into parts.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “partitive”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin partio, Latin partitus. 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- / partitive

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