Other forms: parts, parted, parting
A part is a piece of something bigger. The wing is part of the plane, the chorus is the part of the song everyone can sing, and the part of the exam nobody finishes is the last page. In America the line down somebody's hair is a part as well, combed to one side and straight as a ruler.
British English calls that hair line a parting instead. Part is also a role: an actor learns his part, and you play a part in a decision or do your part for the team. Machines are full of parts, so there are spare parts, part numbers, and the one part that always fails first. As a verb, to part is to separate, which is why the curtains part, two friends part company, and parting with money means handing it over unwillingly. Take part in something means join in with it.
1nounportionA piece or portion of something larger.~92%
“Only part of the roof was damaged in the storm.”
2nouncomponentA component of a machine.~2%
“The garage is waiting on a part from Germany.”
synonyms: component
3nounroleA role in a play or film, or a share in an activity.~2%
“She got the part of the nurse in the school play.”
synonyms: role
4nounpartIn American English, the line on the head where the hair is combed in two directions. British English calls it a parting.~2%
“He wore his hair with a sharp part on the left.”
5verbseparateTo separate, or to move two things away from each other.~2%
“The crowd parted to let the ambulance through.”
Shares are an estimate: a language model read 20 sentences found in the wild and placed 20 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.
Part came into English twice over, from Old English part and from Old French part, and both of them go back to Latin partem, the accusative of pars. Latin pars covered a piece, a share, a side, a role and a task all at once, and it is still handing out relatives: portion, party, partner, particle, apart, depart. The English word inherited the whole Latin range, which is how one short word can mean a slice, a component and an actor's lines.
Proto-Indo-European
*perh₃-
Proto-Indo-European
*par-
Latin
partem
Old French
part — part
Old English
part — part
Middle English
part
English, today
part
Built from
From Middle English part, from Old English part (“part”) and Old French part (“part”); both from Latin partem, accusative of pars (“piece, portion, share, side, party, faction, role, character, lot, fate, task, lesson, part, member”), from Proto-Indo-European par-, per- (“to sell, exchange”). Akin to Latin portiō (“a portion, part”), parō (“to make ready, prepare”). del, dele (“part”) (from Old English dǣl (“part, distribution”) > Modern English deal (“portion; amount”)), Middle English dale, dole (“part, portion”) (from Old English dāl (“portion”) > Modern English dole), Middle English sliver (“part, portion”) (from Middle English sliven (“to cut, cleave”), from Old English tōslifan (“to split”)).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA