1. Being or affecting only a part; not total
   "a partial eclipse"; "a partial monopoly"; "partial immunity"; "a partial description of the suspect"; "partial collapse"
    
2. Constituting or comprising a part or fraction of a possible whole or entirety
   "a partial dose";
   - fractional
    
3. Showing favouritism
   "The teacher's partial treatment of certain students was noticed by the class"
    
4. (followed by ‘of’ or ‘to’) having a strong preference or liking for
   "partial to horror movies";
   - fond

1. The derivative of a function of two or more variables with respect to a single variable while the other variables are considered to be constant
   "In thermodynamics, partial derivatives are used to express various physical quantities";
   - partial derivative
    
2. A harmonic with a frequency that is a multiple of the fundamental frequency
   "The rich timbre of the instrument was due to its strong partial tones";
   - overtone, partial tone

Derived forms: partials

See also: aliquot, biased, colored [US], coloured [Brit, Cdn], divisional, fractional, fragmental, fragmentary, half, halfway, inclined, incomplete, integrity, one-sided, slanted, uncomplete, unfair, unity, unjust, waist-length, wholeness

Type of: derivative, derived function, differential, differential coefficient, first derivative, harmonic

Antonym: impartial

Encyclopedia: Partial