Etymograph

English

partnership

Partnership is partner + -ship. Partner is an alteration of Middle English parcener, from Old French parçonier, from Latin partītiō ‘division’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartītiō1‘portion, division’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400parçon1‘partition, share’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400parçonier1‘joint heir’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500parcener1‘co-heir’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500partener1‘partner’
  6. English1500–presentpartner1
  7. Englishtodaypartnership1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English partnership

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartītiōWiktionary, English partnership‘portion, division’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400parçonWiktionary, English partnership‘partition, share’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400parçonierWiktionary, English partnership‘joint heir’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500parcenerWiktionary, English partnership‘co-heir’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500partenerWiktionary, English partnership‘partner’
  6. English1500–presentpartnerWiktionary, English partnership
  7. EnglishtodaypartnershipWiktionary, English partnership

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Today it means

noun The state of being associated with a partner.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “partnership”. 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 / Latin partītiō / partnership