Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “party” come from?

Party comes from Middle English partye, from Anglo-Norman partie, from Latin partitus, the past participle of partior meaning "to divide," derived from Latin pars meaning "part."

party (English): A person or group of people constituting a...

Definitions

  1. A person or group of people constituting a...

Ancestry of “party”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishparty—
2Anglo-Norman Frenchpartie—
3Old Frenchpartiepart; section
4Old Frenchpartirto leave; to divide up
5Latinpartiō—
6Latinparspart, side, piece, share; some; faction
7Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “party”

  • multiparty
  • counterparty
  • nonparty
  • intraparty
  • interparty
  • partyism
  • antiparty
  • multipartyism
  • partier
  • antipartyism
  • partygoer
  • partyless
  • partyness
  • partygoing
  • postparty
  • preparty
  • partay
  • partylike
  • triparty
  • biparty
  • partywear
  • partyish
  • partywide
  • partyarchy
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →