party definition

English party definition

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑː.ti/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑɹ.ti/, [ˈpʰɑɹɾi]

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

  • Audio (Canada)

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑ(ː)ti/, [ˈpʰɑ(ː)ɾi]
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)ti
• Hyphenation: par‧ty

Etymology 1

From Middle English party, partye, partie, from Anglo-Norman partie, from Medieval Latin partīta (“a part, party”), from Latin partīta, feminine of partītus, past participle of partior (“to divide”); see part. Doublet of partita.

Noun

party (plural parties)

1. (law) A person or group of people constituting a particular side in a contract or legal action.

   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. A person.
   1. (slang, dated) A person; an individual.

      He is a queer party.

      • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

        `These young parties have a way of looking at one, sir,' he would say apologetically, `which I don't call respectable.'

   2. With to: an accessory, someone who takes part.

      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.
   • 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.
5. (politics) Political party; political group considered as a formal whole, united under one specific political platform of issues and campaigning to take part in government.

   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.

7. (military) A discrete detachment of troops, especially for a particular purpose.

   The settlers were attacked early next morning by a scouting party.

8. A group of persons collected or gathered together for some particular purpose.
   • 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 gathering of usually invited guests for entertainment, fun and socializing.

      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 group of people traveling or attending an event together, or participating in the same activity.

      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.

   4. A gathering of acquaintances so that one of them may offer items for sale to the rest of them.

      Tupperware party

      lingerie party

9. A small group of birds or mammals.
   • 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.

10. (obsolete) A part or division.
    • 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum xv”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book II, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC:

      And so the moost party of the castel that was falle doune thorugh that dolorous stroke laye vpon Pellam and balyn thre dayes.

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Synonyms

• (social gathering): bash, do, rave
• See also Thesaurus:party

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• → Bulgarian: парти (parti)
• Cantonese: → 派對／派对 (paai³ deoi³), → party, ⇒ P
• → Dhivehi: ޕާޓީ‎ (pāṭī)
• → Hindi: पार्टी (pārṭī)
• → Japanese: パーティー (pātī)
• → Korean: 파티 (pati)
• → Mandarin: 趴體／趴体 (pātǐ), 派對／派对 (pàiduì)
• → Russian: парти (parti)

Translations

Verb

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

• party down
• party on

Translations

References

• Party (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• party on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

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

Adjective

party (not comparable)

1. Of a fence or wall: shared by two properties and serving to divide them.
   • 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, Olympia Press:

     Now converging, now diverging, these fences presented a striking irregularity of contour. No fence was party, nor any part of any fence.

2. (obsolete, except in compounds) Divided; in part.
3. (heraldry) Parted or divided, as in the direction or form of one of the ordinaries.

   an escutcheon party per pale

Derived terms

Further reading

• “party”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “party”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• praty, yrapt

Afrikaans party definition

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

party (plural partye)

1. party (group, especially a political one)

Determiner

party

1. some, a few

Chinese party definition

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Noun

party

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) party

References

• English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese

Czech party definition

Alternative forms

• párty

Noun

party f (indeclinable)

1. party (gathering of usually invited guests for entertainment, fun and socializing)

   Synonym: večírek

Related terms

• See part

Further reading

• party in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu
• party in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• party in Internetová jazyková příručka

Dutch party definition

Etymology

Borrowed from English party.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

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

1. party

Synonyms

• feest, fuif

Derived terms

• schuimparty

French party definition

Etymology

Borrowed from English party.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paʁ.ti/, (Quebec) /paʁ.te/

• Audio (CAN)

  (file)

Noun

party m or f (plural parties or partys)

1. (Canada) party (social gathering)

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

• garden-party
• party hot-dog
• suicide-party

Further reading

• “party”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian party definition

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English party.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpar.ti/
• Rhymes: -arti
• Hyphenation: pàr‧ty

Noun

party m (invariable)

1. party (social gathering)

Norwegian Bokmål party definition

Etymology

Borrowed from English party.

Noun

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

1. a party (social event)

Synonyms

• fest

References

• “party” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk party definition

Etymology

Borrowed from English party.

Noun

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

1. a party (social event)

Synonyms

• fest

References

• “party” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish party definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpar.tɨ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -artɨ
• Syllabification: par‧ty

Participle

party

1. masculine singular passive adjectival participle of przeć

Declension

Portuguese party definition

Verb

party

1. Obsolete spelling of parti

Romanian party definition

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English party.

Noun

party n (plural party-uri)

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

   Synonym: petrecere

Declension

Spanish party definition

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English party. Doublet of partida.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

party m (plural partys or parties)

1. party; celebration, festivity

Usage notes

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

• “party”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Swedish party definition

Etymology

Borrowed from English party. Doublet of parti.

Pronunciation

• (file)

Noun

party n

1. party; social gathering

   Synonyms: fest, kalas

Declension

Declension of party
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	party	partyt	partyn	partyna
Genitive	partys	partyts	partyns	partynas

References

• party in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• party in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• party in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)