partial

If you describe something as partial, you're usually saying it's just part of the whole, or incomplete. Say someone asks how you started your band and you say, "I bought a guitar." That would be a partial answer, at best.

Partial has another meaning, too. If you say you are partial to something, you are expressing a fondness for it. Or not. If someone asks you whether you still love your husband after 50 years of marriage, for example, and you say, "I'm partial to him," you're either joking or politely saying "Not really." Being partial to something is to love as a warm stove is to a bonfire.

Primary Meanings of partial

1.
 adj
being or affecting only a part; not total
2.
 adj
showing favoritism
3.
 n
a harmonic with a frequency that is a multiple of the fundamental frequency
4.
 n
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
Full Definitions of partial
1

adj being or affecting only a part; not total

“a partial description of the suspect”
“partial collapse”
“a partial eclipse”
“a partial monopoly”
“partial immunity”
Synonyms:
incomplete, uncomplete
not complete or total; not completed
2

adj showing favoritism

Synonyms:
unfair, unjust
not fair; marked by injustice or partiality or deception
biased, colored, coloured, one-sided, slanted
favoring one person or side over another
Antonyms:
impartial
showing lack of favoritism
fair, just
free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules
disinterested
unaffected by self-interest
cold-eyed, dispassionate
unaffected by strong emotion or prejudice
indifferent, unbiased, unbiassed
characterized by a lack of partiality
indifferent
marked by no especial liking or dislike or preference for one thing over another
show more antonyms...

adj (followed by `of' or `to') having a strong preference or liking for

“partial to horror movies”
Synonyms:
fond
inclined
(often followed by `to') having a preference, disposition, or tendency
3

n a harmonic with a frequency that is a multiple of the fundamental frequency

Synonyms:
overtone, partial tone
Type of:
harmonic
a tone that is a component of a complex sound
4

n 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

Synonyms:
partial derivative
Type of:
derivative, derived function, differential, differential coefficient, first derivative
the result of mathematical differentiation; the instantaneous change of one quantity relative to another; df(x)/dx

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