English
party
Party comes from Middle English party, from Anglo-Norman partie, from Latin partire ‘to share’, from pars ‘a part’, from Proto-Italic *partis.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*partis1‘part’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpars2‘a part’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartire2‘to share’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400partir2‘to divide’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400partie2‘side’literally ‘that which is divided’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400partie2
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500party2
- Englishearliest quotation 1470–1485party2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin pars
- 2 Wiktionary, English party
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1470–1485, Capitulum xv: “And so the moost party of the castel that…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*partisWiktionary, Latin pars‘part’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEparsWiktionary, English party‘a part’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartireWiktionary, English party‘to share’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400partirWiktionary, English party‘to divide’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400partieWiktionary, English party‘side’literally ‘that which is divided’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400partieWiktionary, English party
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500partyWiktionary, English party
- Englishearliest quotation 1470–1485partyWiktionary, English party. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1470–1485, Capitulum xv: “And so the moost party of the castel that…”
first attested First attested in c. 1300 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)
The story
From Middle English party, partye, partie, from Anglo-Norman partie, from Old French partie (“side, part; portion, share; separation, division”, literally “that which is divided”), noun use of feminine of past participle of Old French partir (‘to divide, separate’), from Latin partire (‘to share, part, distribute, divide’), from pars (‘a part, piece, a share’); see also part. First attested in c. 1300. The sense of communist party of a communist state derives Russian партия (partija), short for Коммунистическая партия (Kommunističeskaja partija).
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with party, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *perh₃- ‘to grant’
- empire ← imperium ← imperō ← parō ← *pr̥h₃-o-
- experiment ← esperiment ← experimentum ← experior ← pariō
- expert ← expertus ← experior ← pariō ← *parjō
- imperial ← imperiālis ← imperium ← imperō ← parō
- repair ← repairen ← reparer ← reparō ← parō
- preparation ← preparacion ← preparacion ← praeparatio ← praeparatus
- parental ← parentālis ← parens ← *par-(e)nt- ← *pérh₃-t ~ *pr̥h₃-ént
- para ← pàra//па̀ра ← پاره ← پاره ← *pāraka
- partisan ← partigiano ← parte ← partem ← *partim
- imperium ← imperō ← parō ← *pr̥h₃-o-
- imperious ← imperiōsus ← imperium ← imperō ← parō
- parity ← paritas ← pariō ← *parjō
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Another origin of party
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*perh₃-‘to provide, produce, beget’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pérh₃tisuncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*partis‘part’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpars‘part, piece’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartiō‘to divide’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartior‘to share, part’uncertainpast participle of partiō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpartītus‘parted’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400parti‘parted’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500party
- Englishtodayparty
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Today it means
noun A person or group of people constituting one side in a legal proceeding, such as in a legal action or a contract.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “party”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin pars. 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-Italic *partis / party