ˈparticule Obs., exc. in sense 2 b, as Fr.
(partikyl)
Also 6 perticule.
[a. F. particule (1484 in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. L. particula particle.]
† 1. A small part or portion (in quot. 1540, of land); a particle. Obs.
| 1540 Sc. Acts Jas. V (1814) 376/2 Þe landis and barony of Estwemis..aduocatioun and donatioun of kirkis tenentis tenandrijs particulis pendiculis..and pertinentis þarof. 1647 Lilly Chr. Astrol. xxix. 193, I ever tooke..that very particule of hour when it was proposed. |
† 2. Gram. = particle n. 3. Obs. exc. as in b.
| c 1620 A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 33 Ane is a noun of number,..an a particule of determination preceding a voual. |
‖ b. spec. Applied to the French preposition de used as a prefix of nobility in personal names.
| 1889 Blackw. Mag. CXLVI. 270/1 We..generously add a ‘de’ where no particule is, with no consciousness that we are thus conferring nobility. 1898 Bodley France I. 191 Of the 1500 boys 200 have names prefixed with the particule, signifying that they claim to be of gentle birth. |