partitive

Relating to or denoting a grammatical construction that indicates a part of a whole, often used with nouns like 'some of the' or 'a piece of'.

• 🇫🇷Qui concerne une construction grammaticale exprimant une partie d'un tout, souvent employée avec des noms comme 'certains de' ou 'un morceau de'.

1. Denoting a part of a whole C1 formal

   Relating to or indicating a part of a whole or a quantity that is less than the whole, often used in grammar.

   • In French, the partitive article 'du' is used to express 'some' or 'any'.
   • The partitive construction 'some of the' indicates an unspecified portion.
   • Partitive expressions like 'a piece of' or 'a slice of' are common in English.

   🇫🇷partitif

   Synonymes: divisionalfractionalsectionalsegmental

2. Creating division into parts C1 formal

   Indicating or characterized by the act of separating or dividing something into distinct parts.

   • The partitive function of the word 'half' divides a whole into two equal sections.
   • Partitive terms like 'segment' or 'fragment' serve to partition a larger entity.
   • In mathematics, partitive division involves splitting a quantity into a specified number of groups.

   🇫🇷Qui divise en parties

   Synonymes: divisiveseparative

   Antonymes: holisticintegrativeunifying

3. Serving to separate C1 formal

   Acting to separate or divide something into smaller components or sections.

   • The partitive role of the preposition 'of' helps separate a subset from a larger set.
   • Partitive phrases such as 'a portion of' serve to isolate a part from the whole.
   • This partitive mechanism is used to break down complex systems into manageable units.

   🇫🇷Partitif (qui sert à séparer)

   Synonymes: divisivepartingseparative

   Antonymes: combiningmergingunifying

• more partitive comparative form
• most partitive superlative form

A noun referring to a word or grammatical form, such as 'some' or 'less', that indicates a part or quantity of something as distinct from the whole.

• 🇫🇷Nom désignant un mot ou une forme grammaticale, comme « quelques » ou « moins », qui exprime une partie ou une quantité de quelque chose par opposition au tout.

1. Partitive word C1 formal

   A word (such as 'some', 'any', 'less', 'few', 'much') that indicates a part or quantity of something, as distinct from the whole.

   • In the phrase 'some water', 'some' is a partitive.
   • 'A piece of cake' uses the partitive 'piece'.
   • Partitives like 'a lot of' and 'a few' are common in English.

   🇫🇷partitif (mot/quantifiant partitif)