Wiktionary

party

See also: Party, partý, párty, and парти

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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. Doublet of partita.[1] The sense of communist party of a communist state derives Russian партия (partija), short for Коммунистическая партия (Kommunističeskaja partija).

 
A birthday party (sense 5.1) for a child.

Noun

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party (plural parties)

  1. (law) A person or group of people constituting one side in a legal proceeding, such as in a legal action or a contract. [from ca. 1300s]
    The contract requires that the party of the first part pay the fee.
    • 1612, Sir John Davies, Discoverie of the True Causes why Ireland was never entirely subdued:
      if the Jury had found that the party slain had been of English race and nation, it had been adjudged felony
  2. (dated, slang, vulgar or humorous) A person; an individual. [from after 1475]
    He is a queer party.
    1. With to: someone who takes part in an action or affair; an accessory.
      I can't possibly be a party to that kind of reckless behaviour.
  3. (now rare in general sense) A group of people forming one side in a given dispute, contest, etc., or united in maintaining a cause, policy, or opinion in opposition to others; a faction. [from ca. 1320s]
    • 1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as chapter 6, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, 1914 June, →OCLC:
      A mile back in the forest the tribe had heard the fierce challenge of the gorilla, and, as was his custom when any danger threatened, Kerchak called his people together, partly for mutual protection against a common enemy, since this gorilla might be but one of a party of several, and also to see that all members of the tribe were accounted for.
    1. (roleplaying games, online gaming) Active player characters organized into a single group.
    2. (video games) A group of characters controlled by the player.
    4. (politics) A political group considered as a formal whole, usually organized on a national basis, which contests elections and aims to form or take part in a government; a political party. [from 1680s]
      The green party took 12% of the vote.
      • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
        "A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day. […] A strong man—a strong one; and a heedless." ¶ "Of what party is he?" she inquired, as though casually.
      • 1949, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four‎[1], page 103:
        The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
      • 1996, John Gittings, “Peasants in Revolt”, in Real China: From Cannibalism to Karaoke‎[2], Pocket Books, published 1997, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 46:
        In the freer political atmosphere before the 1989 repression, peasant protests against the Party in Henan were sometimes openly discussed. A transcript of a meeting between peasants and cadres in Jili district near Luoyang published in the Peasants’ Daily recorded some vivid complaints.
      1. (with the and capital initial) The Communist Party, especially as the sole political party of a communist state. [from 1919]
      2. (dated, now rare) The feeling of solidarity with and support for one's political party; partisanship, especially in political matters. [from 1720s]
  5. (military) A detachment of troops selected for a particular service or duty. [from ca. 1330]
    boarding party
    The settlers were attacked early next morning by a scouting party.
  6. A group of people gathered together, especially temporarily, for a specific purpose such as travel or sport. [from after 1387]
    We're expecting a large party from the London office.
    Do you have a table available for a party of four?
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 63:
      We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner.
    • 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XV, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 163–164:
      […] the whole party were still standing and talking together very agreeably, when the sound of horses drew their notice, and Darcy and Bingley were seen riding down the street.
    • 1944 May and June, “Nature Provides a Railway Tunnel”, in Railway Magazine, page 132:
      When the line was being surveyed in 1880, the survey party, proceeding along the course of Stock Creek, reached a natural amphitheatre with a rock wall 200 ft. high, in the face of which there was an arched tunnel entrance, [...] into which the stream passed.
    2. A social gathering, usually of invited guests, which typically involves eating, drinking, and entertainment and often held to celebrate a particular occasion. [from 1700s]
      I'm throwing a huge party for my 21st birthday.
      • 2016 April 3, “Congressional Fundraising”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 7, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:
        So-So, tonight, tonight, let’s look at where that time actually goes, and let’s begin with the most obvious form of fundraising: fundraisers. These are usually shitty parties in D.C. bars, restaurants, or townhouses, and there are a lot of them! The Sunlight Foundation estimates that, in the last election cycle, members of Congress held over 28 hundred fundraisers! Washington is like Rod Stewart’s haircut: party in the front, party in the back, frankly too much party and no business anywhere to be found!
      • 2017, “Any Party”, in Pleasure, performed by Feist:
        You know I’d leave any party for you / 'Cause no party’s so sweet as a party of two
    3. A gathering of acquaintances so that one of them may offer items for sale to the rest of them.
      Tupperware party
      lingerie party
  7. A small group of birds or mammals. [from after 1387]
    • 1830 March 5, The Australian, Sydney, page 3, column 3:
      Small parties of cattle were seen browsing in places where they must with with difficulty have kept their footing[.]
    • 1903, D.D. Cunningham, Some Indian Friends and Acquaintances, London: John Murray, page 28:
      A party of mynas, consisting of several males and females, once selected the top of a low terraced roof, just below my verandah, as a site for courting and quarrelling.
    • 2009, Mark Brazil, The Birds of East Asia, London: Christopher Helm, page 272:
      Small parties and flocks close to breeding sites commonly give shrill, high-pitched, trilling screams.
  8. (obsolete) A part or portion. [ca. 1300–1654]
  9. (obsolete) A prospective partner or an offer of marriage. [1492–1854]
  10. (obsolete) A decision, resolution, agreement. [1585–1767]
Synonyms
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Hyponyms
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Derived terms
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Derived terms of party (noun)
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Descendants
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Translations
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Verb

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party (third-person singular simple present parties, present participle partying, simple past and past participle partied)

  1. (intransitive) To celebrate at a party, to have fun, to enjoy oneself.
    We partied until the early hours.
  2. (intransitive, slang, euphemistic) To take recreational drugs.
    • 2004, Daniel Nicholas Shields, Firewoman:
      “Miss, do you party?” the boy asked. “What?” Jennifer asked back. “Do you smoke? I'll get you some cheap. One American dollar equals forty Jamaican dollars. I'll get you as much of the stuff as you need.”
  3. (intransitive) To engage in flings, to have one-night stands, to sow one's wild oats.
  4. (online gaming, intransitive) To form a party (with).
    If you want to beat that monster, you should party with a healer.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Adverb

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party (comparative more party, superlative most party)

  1. (obsolete) Partly.

Etymology 2

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From Middle English party, from Old French parti (“parted”), from Latin partītus (“parted”), past participle of partiō (“to divide”). More at part.

Adjective

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party (not comparable)

  1. (obsolete, except in compounds) Divided; in part.
    1. (heraldry) Divided into parts of different tinctures, usually equal, and especially following the lines of one of the ordinaries.
      an escutcheon party per pale
    2. (of a fence or wall, rare) Shared by two properties and serving to divide them.
      • 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:
        Now converging, now diverging, these fences presented a striking irregularity of contour. No fence was party, nor any part of any fence.
  2. (clarification of this definition is needed) Favoring one party; partisan.
Derived terms
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Derived terms of party (adjective)

References

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  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “party”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

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Afrikaans

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Etymology

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From Dutch partij, from Middle Dutch partie, from Old French partie.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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party (plural partye)

  1. party (group, especially a political one)

Determiner

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party

  1. some, a few

Chinese

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Etymology

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From English party. Doublet of P, 派對 / 派对 (pàiduì), and 趴體 / 趴体 (pātǐ).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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party

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) party

Derived terms

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References

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Czech

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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party f (indeclinable)

  1. party (gathering of usually invited guests for entertainment, fun and socializing)
    Synonym: večírek
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Further reading

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  • “party”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
  • “party”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
  • “party”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Dutch

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English party. Doublet of partij.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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party f or m (plural party's, diminutive party'tje n)

  1. party

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English party.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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party m or f (plural parties or partys)

  1. (North America) party (social gathering)

Usage notes

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party has two genders in French: In Canada, it is a masculine noun, and in France it is a feminine noun.

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Italian

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English party.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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party m (invariable)

  1. party (“social gathering”)

References

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  1. ^ party in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English party.

Noun

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party n (definite singular partyet, indefinite plural party or partyer, definite plural partya or partyene)

  1. a party (social event)

Synonyms

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References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English party.

Noun

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party n (definite singular partyet, indefinite plural party, definite plural partya)

  1. a party (social event)

Synonyms

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References

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Polish

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Participle

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party (passive adjectival)

  1. masculine singular passive adjectival participle of przeć
Declension
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Declension of party (hard)
singular plural
masculine animate masculine inanimate feminine neuter virile (= masculine personal) non-virile
nominative party parta parte parci parte
genitive partego partej partego partych
dative partemu partej partemu partym
accusative partego party partą parte partych parte
instrumental partym partą partym partymi
locative partym partej partym partych

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

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party m inan

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of part

Portuguese

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Verb

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party

  1. Obsolete spelling of parti.

Romanian

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English party.

Noun

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party n (plural party-uri)

  1. party (group of persons collected or gathered together for some particular purpose)
    Synonym: petrecere

Declension

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Declension of party
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative party party-ul party-uri party-urile
genitive-dative party party-ului party-uri party-urilor
vocative party-ule party-urilor

Spanish

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English party. Doublet of partida.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈpaɾti/ [ˈpaɾ.t̪i]
  • Rhymes: -aɾti
  • Syllabification: par‧ty

Noun

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party m (plural partys or parties)

  1. party; celebration, festivity

Usage notes

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According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

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Swedish

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Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv

Etymology

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Borrowed from English party. Doublet of parti.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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party n

  1. party; social gathering
    Synonyms: fest, kalas, partaj

Declension

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Declension of party
nominative genitive
singular indefinite party partys
definite partyt partyts
plural indefinite partyn partyns
definite partyna partynas

References

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