▪ I. party, n.
(ˈpɑːtɪ)
Forms: 3–7 partye, (3–4 partiȝe), 4–5 parti, (4 perti, 4–5 -y, 5 parte, perte (?); pl. 4 partijs, 4–5 parteis, -eys, partise, -yse, 5 partice, -yce), 4–7 partie, (5, 7 pertie, 6 Sc. pairtie, -y, 7 partee), 4– party.
[ME. partie, partye, a. F. partie (12th c. in Littré) = Pr., Sp. partida, It. partita lit. a parting or division, from fem. pa. pple. of L. partīre, It. partire, F. partir: see part v. This n. (analogous to those in -ata, -ada, -ade, -ée, -y) in some senses coincided with or superseded part, part n. But in some uses the Eng. n. answers to F. parti, It. partito:—L. partītum that which is divided, shared, or allotted.
Final mute e in Eng. being often dropped or added without reference to derivation, it is not possible to separate the senses belonging to parti from those belonging to partie; and the arrangement here is in many points provisional.]
I. Part, portion, side. [= F. partie.]
† 1. A division of a whole; a part, portion, share; an aliquot part; a part or member of the body; cf. part n. 1–7. Obs.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 231/418 Þat he for-clef is foule bouk in þre partyes at þe laste. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8112 Hii departede verst hor ost as in vour partye. a 1300 Cursor M. 2094 Þe werld es..Delt in thrin parteis [v.r. partijs] sere. Ibid. 13583 O godd him semes ha na perti. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 7 Þe moste parti of þe peple. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 103 Iudea is a kyngdom of Syria a party of Palestyna. 1433 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 475/2 In party of payment of the said l li. 1497 Bp. Alcock Mons Perfect. E ij b/1 Bewteuous in colour of al partyes of theyr bodyes. 1526 Tindale Matt. xxvii. 51 The vayle of the temple was rent in two parties. 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg., In what partye of the sholdre is it? 1628 Coke On Litt. 47 Out of a generall, a party may be excepted, as out of a manor an acre. 1654 Gataker Disc. Apol. 69 To prov the truth concerning an over-great partie of them. |
b. Phr.
a party (see
a-party),
in party: in part, partly; somewhat, a little. Also (15–17th c.) simply
party (
ellipt. or
advb.), in part, partly (
= part n. (
adv.) B). So
for the more party, etc.:
a great party, in great part, to a large extent; (
cf. part n. V).
Obs.| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 11749 When þei were stilled a party, ffirst spak sire Ohel. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 292 He sall eschew It In party. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 389 In sum londis hooly, & in ynglonde for þe more party. Ibid., Þe lordis ben vndo in grete party. 1382 ― 1 Cor. xiii. 12 Now I knowe of party, thanne forsooth I schal knowe as and I am knowyn. c 1400 Gamelyn 392 Now I haue aspied thou art a party fals. c 1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. iv. 859 Thus party with witte, party wyth nygramauncy She peruerteth oure lond in wonder wise. c 1450 Merlin 21, I knowe thynges that be for to come a grete partye. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 58 Like to this in party. 1473 J. Warkworth Chron. (Camden) 11 Alle Englonde for the more partye hatyd hym. 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. lxxvii. 251 Sometimes all white, and sometimes partie white. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 197/1 Their [Deacon's] Office..is party Humane, party Divine. |
† 2. A part of the world, region, district (usually
pl.):
= part n. 13.
Obs.| 13.. K. Alis. 4910 Thoo that woneth in the est partie. c 1400 Destr. Troy 305 Mony prouyns and perties were put out of helle. c 1400 Three Kings Cologne 123 In all þe partyes & kyngdoms of þe eest. 1538 Starkey England i. i. 2 Dyuerse partyes beyond the see. 1578 T. Nicholas tr. Cortes' Hist. W. Ind. (1596) 17 Freely to goe and trafficke into those parties. |
b. Side; direction, ‘quarter’ of the compass:
= part n. 14.
Obs.| c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xx. 91 And a man þare take a spere and sett it euen in þe erthe at midday,..it makez na schadowe till na party. 14.. Tundale's Vis. 1973 Thay hanged thykke on ilke party. 1547 Boorde Introd. Knowl. xxii. (1870) 177 Marchauntes passeth from both parties by the water of Tiber. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xviii. 51 The Northeast wind..comming from the party of Arctus whiche in greek signifieth a she Bear. 1588 J. Mellis Briefe Instr. D iv, In the Debitor partie. And..in the Creditor party of the Leager. |
† 3. ? A part of a matter, a point, particular; matter, affair; respect. (
Cf. part n. 2 c.)
Obs.| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 46 His houres of Astronomie He kepeth as for that partie Which longeth to thinspeccion Of love and his affeccion. 1439 E.E. Wills (1882) 115 Y bequeth to eche of my seide executours for his labor in this party to be had, Cs. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xi. (Percy Soc.) 47 Nowe after this, for to make relacyon Of famous rethoryke so in this party, As to the fourth part, Pronouncyacyon, I shal it shew anone ryght openly. |
† 4. ? State, condition, plight, predicament.
rare.
| c 1440 Generydes 3518 ‘If thu’, quod he, ‘had done after my rede, Thu shuldest not now haue ben in this parte’ [rimes vterly, trewelly]. 1485 Caxton Paris & V. 5 Ye see..in what party we be now. |
5. Side in a contest, in a dispute, a contract, or the like; cause, interest:
= part n. 15. ?
Obs. or merged in 6.
† on (in) a party: on one side.
† to draw to parties: to take sides.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 729 Bath ar now on a partie to confund [him] wit trecherie. Ibid. 7470 And her i bede mi-self redi, For to fight for vr parti [v.r. party]. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. ii. 95 And for no lordene loue leue þe trewe partye. 1411 Rolls of Parlt. III. 650/1 The ordenance..made betwen William Lord the Roos on that oon partie and Robert Tirwhit..on that other partie. c 1450 Merlin 113 And whan thei were alle assembled to-geder, thei were well vijml on his partye. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 10 A paire of Indentures made betwen your Highnes on the oon partie and William Courteney..on the other partie. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Pref. 16, I cannot tell on whose partie first to commence. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 289 Manye feates of armes were there done on both parties. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxviii. vi, Jehova doth my party take. 1649 in J. Harrington Def. Rights Univ. Oxford (1690) 32 What hath been said on either party. 1754 Fielding Jon. Wild i. xi, By the contrary party men often made a bad bargain with the devil. 1854 Milman Lat. Chr. vii. v. (1864) IV. 153 Rome was on that party which at the time could awe her with the greatest power or win her by the most lavish wealth. |
† b. on (or of) my party: on my behalf, on my part (
OF. de ma partie, F.
de ma part).
for, on (in, of) my party: as far as I am concerned, as for my part, on my part: so
for, on, his party, etc. (
cf. part n. 25, 27, 28).
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 12810 (Cott.) Tell þam soth, o [Gött., Trin. on, Fairf. of] mi parti. Ibid. 15196 (Cott.) Til þe lauerd o þat hus Yee sai on mi parti, Þat he yow wald len sum place. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 196, I thenke also for mi partie Upon the lawe of Juerie. c 1430 Freemasonry (Halliw.) 29 They schul enquere every mon On his party, as wyl as he con. 1502 W. Atkynson tr. De Imitatione iii. xi. 206 Thou, good lorde, fulfyll that I want of my partye. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 101 If they beleved any offense on their partie against the Goddes. |
c. † to hold party (
obs.),
to make one's party good: to make good one's cause, or position.
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 3643 His men miȝt nouȝt meyntene here owne, Prestly to hold party to puple þat hem folwed. 1631 Heylin St. George 53 To make good his party, against these severall Squadrons. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 6 A man hath much ado to make his party good against them [gnats]. 1809–12 M. Edgeworth Vivian xii, Julia has made her party good with him, for he writes me word he cannot part with her. |
† d. A league, confederacy; a conspiracy, plot.
| 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia 88 Hee had such parties with all his bordering neighbours. 1640 in Hamilton Papers (Camden) App. 261 The said Marques made many proffers of great parties within the Realme of Scotland. |
II. A company or body of persons.
6. a. concr. Those who are on one side in a contest, etc., considered collectively; a number of persons united in maintaining a cause, policy, opinion, etc., in opposition to others who maintain a different one; a body of partisans or adherents. In early instances (usually), One of the two ‘sides’ or bodies of combatants arrayed against each other, as in a battle or tournament.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1445 He sei þat hor partie [v.r. partiȝe] ibroȝt was nei to ssame. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1150 Boþe parties here place pertiliche had chosen. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 372 If þe clergi gete þis swerde oonys fully in her power, þe seculer party may go pipe wiþ an yuy lefe for eny lordeschipis þat þe clerkis wille ȝeue hem aȝen. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 4 The meyer..Made hem hove in rengis twayne, A strete betwene eche party lyke a walle. 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) Prol. 5 Taking part y{supt} suche prechers weren of y⊇ party of Ihesu cryst. 1584 D. Powel Lloyd's Cambria 284 Euerie partie returned home. a 1625 Fletcher Chances v. iii, My end is mirth, And pleasing, if I can, all parties. 1714 Pope Let. to Jervas 27 Aug., I expect no greater from the Whig-party, than the same Liberty.—A Curse on the Word Party, which I have been forced to use so often in this Period! 1769 Robertson Chas. V, vi. Wks. 1826 IV. 84 Thus ended a war..in which both parties exerted their utmost strength. 1813 Southey March to Moscow v, It was through thick and thin to its party true; Its back was buff, and its sides were blue. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 126 A party of order had sprung up among all classes of Englishmen. |
b. abstr. The system of taking sides on public questions, the system of parties; attachment to or zeal for a party, party feeling or spirit: partisanship.
| 1729 Butler Serm. Love Neighb. ii. Wks. 1874 II. 165 The spirit of party, which unhappily prevails amongst mankind. 1774 Goldsm. Retal. 32 Here lies our good Edmund [Burke]..Who, born for the universe, narrowed his mind, And to party gave up what was meant for mankind. 1821 J. W. Croker Diary 22 June, Party is in England a stronger passion than love, avarice, or ambition. 1841 Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) VI. 32 Party..means being of any but the right party, which is every man's own. For when it is the right, then none will call it party. In fact it is the ill-natured, or as Jeremy Bentham called it, the dyslogistic word, for everybody except a man's self and friends. 1893 Westm. Gaz. 1 Feb. 1/3 Party is the embodiment of certain principles, beliefs. persuasions, which are commonly held by all who belong to it as essential to the right conduct of public affairs. |
c. spec. (
freq. with capital initial)
the party: the Communist Party.
| 1920 Times 5 Oct. 14/3 (heading) Realities of Russia. Iron Rule of ‘The Party’. 1922 E. P. Oppenheim Great Prince Shan iv. 38 ‘Her father at present represents the shipping interests of Russia and England. He is one of the authorised consuls.’ ‘Is he of the party?’ 1928 E. & C. Paul tr. Stalin's Leninism I. 168 The central unit of organisation is the Party. 1936 A. Huxley Eyeless in Gaza xxii. 316 One joined the Party, one distributed literature. 1943 Koestler Arrival & Departure i. 18 He had courage, but he could not adapt himself to changes in the tactics of the movement. That's why he had to leave the Party. 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 11 Sept. 575/4 The recent dramatic dismissal of the Kerala Government by the President of India..is certain to influence the attitude of the Party towards legally constituted authority. 1975 New Left Rev. Nov.–Dec. 65 A whole series of import–export co-operatives..pay a tithe of their profits to the party. |
7. Mil. A detachment or small body of troops selected for a particular service or duty.
| 1645–6 Pr. Rupert's Jrnl. in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1898) XIII. 740 March 1, Sunday, a partie from Oxford, surprise Abingdon; but were beatten out. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. vi. §250 Sir John Berkley..with a good party volant, of horse and dragoons,..visiting all places in Devon,..took many prisoners of name. 1772 Ann. Reg. 73*/2 Surprizing several of their posts, routing their parties, and destroying their magazines. 1853 Stocqueler Milit. Encycl. s.v., Recruiting Parties are a certain number of men, under an officer or non-commissioned officer, detached from their respective battalions for the purpose of enlisting men.—Firing Parties are those who are selected to fire over the grave of any one interred with military honours.—Working Parties consist of small detachments of men..who are employed on fatigues which are not purely of a military nature. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 2 June 7/2 A few minutes after they had passed our demolition party destroyed the line. |
† b. upon party, on the service upon which such a detachment is sent.
Obs.| 1709 Steele Tatler No. 18 ¶6 They have been upon Parties and Skirmishes, when our Armies have lain still. 1756 Washington Lett. Writ. 1889 I. 334 Complaint..that the officers and soldiers upon party, take up the strays they find in the woods. |
c. transf. A gang of prisoners working together.
| 1896 Daily News 28 Dec. 6/3 There are numbers of gangs or ‘parties’, as they are officially termed, working in the open... There is the quarry party, which works about two hundred yards from the prison. |
8. A company of persons (rarely of animals);
esp. a company formed or gathered together for a temporary purpose; a body of persons travelling together or engaged in any common pursuit; a number of persons met together for amusement or entertainment.
Thus, a hunting or fishing party, a reading party, a house party; to form a party to go to Switzerland, etc.
| 1773 G. White Selborne xxxviii. (1789) 97, I..have found these birds in little parties in the autumn cantoned all along the Sussex downs. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian Prol. (1826) 3 One of the party pointed him out to the friar. 1805 Ld. Collingwood 16 Dec. in Nicolas Disp. (1846) VII. 242 Truly sorry am I that Calder was not of the party. 1827 Lytton Pelham xxi, A bench, which..one might appropriate to the entire and unparticipated use of one's self and party. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxi. 150 A party of gentlemen..had started at three o'clock for the summit. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 141 When the party were once more on their horses. |
9. A gathering or assemblage for social pleasure or amusement; a social gathering or entertainment,
esp. of invited guests at a private house.
Thus, a dinner, tea, or supper party, a garden or picnic party, to give a party, go to parties, etc.
| 1716 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Mrs. Smith 5 Aug., I rather fancy myself upon parties of pleasure. 1728 Eliza Heywood tr. Mme. de Gomez' Belle A. (1732) II. 99 To entreat we would favour her with our Company, to make a Party of Pleasure, which her Daughter had put her in mind of. 1754 Chatham Lett. Nephew iv. 24 Decline their parties with civility. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas viii. ix. ¶6 After the example of his excellency,..I determined to give parties of my own... Scipio, too, had his parties in the servants' hall. 1827 Lytton Pelham xv, The party was as stiff and formal as such assemblies invariably are. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 20 Nov. 7/3 The luncheon-party included four or five of Lord Rosebery's personal guests. |
b. Phrases:
the party is over: enjoyment must stop; the happy or easy times are at an end;
to keep the party clean: to act responsibly; to conform to accepted patterns of behaviour.
| 1937 M. Allingham Dancers in Mourning xxvii. 328 ‘You've made up yer mind to go to-day? It's a lovely day.’ His wistfulness was pathetic, and Campion felt sudden sympathy for him. ‘I'm afraid so,’ he murmured. ‘The party's over. Sorry.’ 1938 E. Waugh Scoop iii. 210 ‘The party's over,’ said Bannister... ‘From tomorrow onward, I shall get a daily pile of bumf from the Ministry.’ 1959 Times 7 Nov. 7/4 Then they [sc. young people] should be invited to cooperate in keeping the party clean and so ensuring that the letting off of fireworks is kept within bounds. 1965 D. Francis For Kicks vi. 91 ‘Do your dress up,’ I said. ‘Why? Are you impotent after all, Danny boy?’ ‘Do your dress up,’ I repeated. ‘The party's over.’ 1975 Times 10 May 1/1 Local government..is coming to realize that, for the time being, the party is over. 1977 Time 22 Aug. 5/1 Now in the '70s, the party is over. 1977 Partridge Dict. Catch Phrases 131/1 Keep the party clean!.. Don't talk smut or tell dirty stories; don't act loosely or indelicately. A correspondent..commented thus: ‘But the speaker often does not quite mean it. {oqq}Give me my hat and knickers,{cqq} she said. {oqq}I thought you were going to keep the party clean.{cqq}’ 1978 D. Murphy Place Apart xi. 243 To them [sc. Provos] their campaign is..a conventional war, and they want to keep the party clean. |
c. An attack, a combat, or fight; an operation, or a unit engaged in an operation.
Armed services' slang.| 1942 ‘B. J. Ellan’ Spitfire! v. 23, I just fired when something came into my sights and then turned like hell as something fired at me! What a party! 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 27 June 7 Confirmation came through that the big party was on. And that the target was Cologne. 1943 P. Brennan et al. Spitfires over Malta 18 This party is about 40 miles North, coming South. 1946 J. Irving Royal Navalese 131 A good example of naval understatement for, in one sense, a ‘party’ can mean quite a tough fight while it lasts. 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 7 Aug. p. iii/3 Classic understating metaphors like ‘having a party’..had their value in time of war when men had to accept as steadfastly and as mildly as they could the possibility of their own violent and horrible deaths. |
† 10. A game or match,
esp. at piquet:
= partie. (F.
partie.)
Obs.| 1726 [see quadrille n.1]. 1727 Gay Beg. Op. i. iv, He hath promis'd to make one this evening..at a party of quadrille. 1731 Fielding Mod. Husb. iii. xi, I am confident..that he lost the last party designedly. 1770 C. Jenner Placid Man I. iii. vii. 188 Sir Isaac was within a few points of winning the party. 1796 M. Robinson Angelina II. 33 Let's play a party at back-gammon. |
III. A single person considered in some relation.
11. a. Each of the two or more persons (or bodies of people) that constitute the two sides in some proceeding, as the litigants in an action at law, the persons who enter into a contract, who contract marriage, etc.
| c 1290 Beket 577 in S. Eng. Leg. 123 Ȝif bi-twene tweie lewede men were ani striuinge, Oþur bi-tuene a lewed man and a clerk..Þe king wolde þat in his court þat plai scholde beon i-driue, For ase muche ase a lewed man þe o partye was. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiv. 268 A mayden..þat is maried þorw brokage, As bi assent of sondry partyes. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 146 Euenly dele twene these partyes tweyn. 1467 Waterf. Arch. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 305 There shal none of the saide counsaile..passe in no jure betwene party and party. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. iv. x. 257 The party playntyf that is to saye he that calleth that other whiche is party deffendaunt. a 1568 Satir. Poems Reform. xlvii. 100 Becauss their bandis wer reddy to be proclamit The pairteis mett and maid a fair contrack. 1596 Danett tr. Comines (1614) 190 The King..neuer meant to accomplish this marriage, because there was no equalitie between the age of the two parties. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I. s.v., Those that make any Deed, and they to whom it is made, are called Parties in the Deed. 1726 Ayliffe Parergon 158 If a Bishop be a Party to a Suit, and excommunicate his adversary; such Excommunication..shall not disable or bar his Adversary from his Action. 1853 Maurice Proph. & Kings xx. 343 It appears to be a narrative written by a third party. 1857 Baden Powell Chr. without Judaism 139 The word διαθηκη..signifies, generally, any legal act or deed; whether of one party, as a will or ‘testament’, or of two, as a covenant. |
Hence
attrib.,
party-and-party, as between the two parties in an action at law.
| 1895 Daily News 31 Oct. 5/6 The levelling down of solicitor and client costs to the party-and-party scale. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 4 May 1/3 The distinction which is known as ‘party and party’ costs and ‘solicitor and client’ costs. |
† b. Hence, An opponent, an antagonist.
Obs. (
Cf. F.
forte partie, a powerful antagonist.)
| c 1500 Melusine 262, I doubte me to haue shortly a strong werre & to haue a doo with a strong partye. 1513 Douglas æneis vii. iv. 38 Ilk ane besy his party for to irk. 1572 tr. Buchanan's Detect. E iij b, He is denyit of his freindis and seruandis quha suld haue accompanyit him to his honour and suretie of his lyfe, in respect of the greitnes of his partie. |
12. One who takes part, participates, or is concerned in some action or affair; a participator; an accessory. Const.
to, formerly also
in.
| 1399 Thirnyng in Rolls of Parlt. III. 451/2 That he was nevere partie, no kaster, no willyng ne assentyng to the dethe of the Duc of Gloucestre. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 9 Preamble, The said Edward was not previe ne partie to the offence of his Sonne. 1604 Shakes. Oth. v. i. 86, I do suspect this Trash To be a party in this Iniurie. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 244 He also made himselfe a partie in the present quarrell. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) II. 158, I would willingly have been a party in any kind of wickedness. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. lii, He was a party to all their proceedings. 1891 Law Rep. Weekly Notes 138/1 The defendant was a party to the making of the codicil. |
† 13. One associated with another as counterpart; a fellow; a partner (
esp. in marriage), a mate.
Obs. (chiefly
Sc). [
OF. partie (Godefroy).]
| 1562 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) i. 198 Thow..wes King Frances pairty maik and peir. 1563 Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. Wks. 1888 I. 110 Quhiddir gif a man or woman being lang absent fra thair party, or haifand thair party impotent throw seiknes,..may mary an wthir? 1651 tr. De-las-Coveras' Don Fenise 249 They fell upon this discourse of marriage, saying that it was necessary for every one, to take a party conformable to his disposition. |
b. An equal in a contest; a match.
Sc. Obs.| a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 118 Thinkand..he sould be pairtie to the king and gif him battell. Ibid. II. 20 The governour nor cardinall durst nocht..gif thame battell becaus thay mycht nocht be pairtie at that tyme to thame. |
14. In extended sense: The individual person concerned or in question; more vaguely, the person (defined by some adjective, relative clause, etc.). (Formerly common and in serious use; now shoppy, vulgar, or jocular, the proper word being
person.)
In the plural,
the parties, meaning ‘the persons’, is more tolerable, being susceptible of explanation as ‘the groups of persons’.
| c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xv. (1885) 145 To make hem also ffauorable and parcial, as were the same seruantes, or the parties þat so moved hem. 1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 12 §9 The sergeant of the pantrie..shall..giue bread to the partie that shal haue his hande so striken of. 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Love 12 [They] thought the parties baptized of heretiques, ought to be rebaptized agayne. 1597 Bp. Andrewes Serm. Zach. xii. 10 Serm. (1631) 341 Not onely, it is we that have pierced the Party thus found slaine; but, that this Party, whom we have thus pierced, is..even the Only begotten Sonne of the most High God. 1611 B. Jonson Catiline ii. ii. 111 'Tis the party, madame. What party? Has he no name? 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. iv. i. ii. (1651) 655 [As] used by such parties as Moses, Elias, Daniel, Christ, and as his Apostles made use of it. 1631 Heylin St. George 303 That the partie nominated, bee a Gentleman of name and armes. 1684 R. Johnson Man. Physick i. iii. 33 When the fit is coming or upon the Party, blow up some sneezing-powder into the Nostrils. 1772 Collignon in Phil. Trans. LXII. 467 If done immediately after the party's death. 1823 Wordsw. Prose Wks. III. 206 The party was not known to me, though she lived at Hawkshead. 1843 J. H. Newman Miracles 59 St. Paul's supernatural power..was doubted at Corinth by the very parties who had seen his miracles and been his converts. 1888 Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. v. 63 ‘Do you know, my Lord’, (said the old party solemnly). |
b. With
a: A person. Now
low colloquial or
slang. (In early examples from sense 11.)
| [1650 Earl of Monmouth tr. Senault's Man bec. Guilty 191 She should be innocent, if she were not fastened to so guilty a Party. a 1654 Gataker Antid. Errour (1670) 14 A partie offends and wrongs his Neighbor.] 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2149/4 A Red Scarlet Cloak..delivered to a wrong Party by Mr. Capers at the Bells of Osney. 1770 Foote Lame Lover iii. Wks. 1799 II. 81 There is, likewise, another party, for whom a place ought to be kept. 1855 Bagehot Lit. Stud. I. 304 ‘From what you tell me, sir, said an American,..‘I should say he was a go-ahead party’. 1859 Helps Friends in C. Ser. ii. I. iv. 185 Calumny herself has been a most calumniated ‘party’, to use the mercantile slang word of the day. 1870 M. Collins Vivian II. vi. 116 She was a professedly pious party. |
c. A telephone subscriber; a person using a telephone.
At first used only with reference to party lines (
party line 2),
subscriber being the usual term.
| 1912 J. Poole Pract. Telephone Handbk. (ed. 5) xxxii. 531 Party lines up to 4 stations on a line can be worked on the automatic by giving each of the parties on the line a separate number and multipleing the lines on four sets of connectors. 1938 C. W. Wilman Automatic Telephony (ed. 2) xix. 185 All incoming calls are received at one of the ordinary telephones, from which they can be transferred to the wanted party. 1955 W. Gaddis Recognitions ii. v. 508, I think we got a crossed wire, would the other parties mind hanging up. 1973 Times 23 May 8/7, I heard him say: ‘I am receiving a report on that right now’ to the party on the other end. |
IV. Senses of doubtful affinity, mostly
repr. F.
parti.
† 15. A decision on one side or the other, a determination, resolution:
esp. in
to take a party (
cf. F.
prendre son parti).
Obs.| 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xix. 23 The souldiers..setting al honor aside,..concluded together to take some party. 1702 Vanbrugh False Friend i. Wks. (Rtldg.) 398/1, I am not come to ask counsel..my party is taken. 1760 Hist. in Ann. Reg. 6–7 He had two parties to take; either to keep within the town,..or to march out... He resolved on the latter party. |
† 16. A person to marry, considered in respect of desirability; a (good or bad) match or offer. (See
parti.)
The first
quot. is quite uncertain.
| [1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. xlviii, Now gif there was gud partye, god It wote.] 1655 Theophania 169 She easily condescended to so advantagious a party. 1789 C. Smith Ethelinde (1814) V. 200 Try..to make him look upon either of your daughters as a desirable party for him. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes I. 296 A girl in our society accepts the best party which offers itself. |
† 17. A proposal, an offer.
Obs.| 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xlix. 241 As such a one I accept of the party thou dost present me with, obliging myself to render thee the two passages of Savady free. 1765 H. Walpole Otranto v. (1834) 241 Manfred accepted the party, and, to the no small grief of Isabella, accompanied her to her apartment. |
V. 18. attrib. and
Comb. † a. attrib. or as adj. (with
ns.) or as
adv. (with
adjs.), in sense 1 b: In part, partial (or partially):
= part B,
parcel B: as
party-bawd,
party-fulfilling,
party-halting,
party-payment;
† party-gilt adj. = parcel-gilt. Also
party-verdict, one person's share or part of a joint verdict.
| 1473 in Somerset Medieval Wills (1901) 226 A couple of salt salers party gilt. 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 140 In partie payment of the sayd warraunt. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. iii. 234 Thy sonne is banish'd vpon good aduice, Whereto thy tongue a party-verdict gaue. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. iii. iii, My deare Delicious compeere, and my partie-bawd. 1633 Ford Love's Sacr. iii. iii, Unfold What by the party-halting of thy speech Thy knowledge can discover. 1691 Beverley Thous. Years Kingd. Christ 30 For all the swelling Rhetorick and seeming Hyperboles,..had but Party-fulfillings before. |
b. attrib. or as adj. with sense as in
party-wall,
q.v.; as
party arch,
party fence-wall,
party structure.
| 1812–16 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 267 They must have a party-wall, with a party-arch or arches of the thickness of a brick and a half at the least, to the first and second rate. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 363 Proprietors of houses and grounds must..give three months' notice to pull down old party-walls, party-arches, party fence-walls, or quarter partitions. 1842–76 Gwilt Archit. (ed. 7) Gloss., Party Fence Wall, a wall separating the open ground in one occupation from that in another; each owner having a right up to the centre of such wall. 1855 Act 18 & 19 Vict. c. 122 §3 ‘Party structure’ shall include party walls, and also partitions, arches, floors, and other structures separating buildings, stories, or rooms which belong to different owners. |
19. Ordinary attributive uses (often hyphened) and combinations, chiefly in sense 6 (often
= partisan n.1 B.), as
party-administration,
party-author,
party boss,
party card,
party caucus,
party cell,
party-chief,
party conference,
party congress,
party-contest,
party convention,
party-cry,
party discipline,
party-division,
party-feeling,
party-fury,
party-government,
party hack,
party image,
party label,
party-leader,
party-lie,
party-list,
party loyalty,
party machine,
party-making,
party-malice,
party manager,
party-measure,
party meeting,
party member,
party membership,
party-mindedness,
party-monger,
party-pamphlet,
party-paper,
party passion,
party platform,
party point,
party politician,
party-politics (hence
party-political adj.; also
ellipt., a party-political broadcast),
party prejudice,
party press,
party quarrel,
party question,
party rage,
party rally,
party secret,
party-state,
party system,
party woman,
party worker,
party writer,
party zeal,
party zealot, etc.;
party-bound adj.; also (sense 1 or 5)
† party-taker (
= partaker); (sense 7)
party-making,
party-war; (sense 8)
party-boat (N.
Amer.) (hence as
v. intr.); (sense 9)
party call,
party dress,
party frock,
party game,
party girl,
party-giving,
party-goer,
party-going,
party mood,
party piece,
party record,
party thrower,
party trick;
party-frocked,
party-like adjs.; (11)
party-hunting,
party-witness;
party manners, good manners, best behaviour;
party piano, a boogie-woogie or barrel-house style of piano-playing;
party plan, a sales strategy by which goods are displayed or demonstrated at a party in a private house; also
attrib.;
party poop,
pooper U.S. slang, one who throws a gloom over social enjoyment;
party spirit, (
a) feeling of solidarity with and support for one's political party; (
b) feeling or atmosphere of festivity; hence
party-spirited adj.| 1735 Bolingbroke On Parties vi. 56 The Abettors of a *Party-Administration. |
| 1712 Addison Spect. No. 457 ¶4 Our *Party-Authors will also afford me a great Variety of Subjects. |
| 1937 E. Hemingway To have & have Not i. i. 14 You *party-boat captains. Ibid. 28, I..went party-boating and broke out this sword-fishing in Cuba. 1963 J. T. Rowland North to Adventure i. 27 She [sc. a sloop] had a long, open cockpit and a small cuddy, since it was his intention to rent her as a party boat. |
| 1909 Times 27 Apr. 4/5 There would thus be a good chance of undermining the ‘*party boss’. 1938 Ann. Reg. 1937 320 The men and the movement, the party and the party bosses, the national aims of the Third Reich. 1977 J. Cleary Vortex ii. 32 He had never been able to make his mark with any of the state's party bosses. |
| 1908 Westm. Gaz. 30 Dec. 4/3 The one honest solution which is constantly shirked by those who are either *party-bound or who..hope for a secular solution. 1936 Wirth & Shils tr. Mannheim's Ideology & Utopia iii. 136 Those whose standpoints are party-bound are finding it necessary to have a broader perspective. |
| 1910 J. W. Tompkins Mothers & Fathers 144 They only came twice, and those were *party calls. |
| 1935 N. Mitchison We have been Warned ii. 209 He had very few papers..his trade union card, and his *Party card. 1970 Guardian 10 Mar. 13/1 Union leaders must talk to Ministers, whatever the shade of their party cards. 1977 P. Johnson Enemies of Society xiv. 185 Such a brutal division can only be maintained by laws of status and privilege—a nobility by birth, or by party card. |
| 1882 W. M. Thayer From Log Cabin to White House 300 Garfield..was nominated by acclamation at the *party caucus, and unanimously elected. 1977 N.Z. Herald 5 Jan. 1–6/3 The party caucus has long functioned as part and parcel of New Zealand politics. |
| 1949 Ann. Reg. 1948 285 There were 25,635 *party cells in all sections of the country's structure and economy. 1978 F. Maclean Take Nine Spies iv. 132 The Party..[was] using him to organize Party cells and cadres and study-groups. |
| 1935 N. Mitchison We have been Warned iv. 381 It was the best *Party Conference he'd been at. 1969 Listener 12 June 827/1 The Party Conference defeated Gaitskell..on the question of nuclear weapons. |
| 1954 B. & R. North tr. Duverger's Pol. Parties ii. i. 273 After 1935 the army played a part of first-rate importance in the *party Congresses at Nuremberg. 1977 W. Weaver tr. Morante's Hist. (1978) 341 The Party Congress had been held in Rome. |
| 1881 Nation (N.Y.) XXXIII. 4 The slipshod method in which the Vice-President is commonly chosen by *party conventions. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 1 May 4/5 The rural followers of William Jennings Bryan fought Al Smith's city legions at the party convention in New York City. |
| 1865 Lowell Wks. (1890) V. 274 Mr. Johnson has chosen to revive the paltry *party-cries. |
| 1830 Deb. Congress U.S. 9 Feb. 149/2 The provisional power of removal from office by a President..[should not] be exercised..in the corrupting spirit of ‘*party discipline’. 1909 H. Zimmern tr. Nietzsche's Human, All-too-human I. 181 The old obsequiousness..still survives in party-feeling and party-discipline. 1933 Discovery Feb. 64/1 The English party system has many advantages, but it also has the disadvantage that party-discipline and party-loyalty do sometimes exercise a prejudicial, cramping or numbing effect on the mind and actions of individual members of the House of Commons. 1961 W. A. Swanberg Citizen Hearst iv. iii. 213 He..came to be regarded..as a professional radical leading a small pack of obedient terriers whose constant snapping was demoralizing to party discipline. |
| 1735 Bolingbroke On Parties i. 2 Maintaining, or renewing our *Party-Divisions. |
| 1770 Gentl. Mag. XL. 121 The Earl of Bute..had not for a great while gone out of his own house, without being followed by one of those *party-doggers. |
| 1873 ‘S. Coolidge’ What Katy did at School (1874) x. 175 Elsie is much excited over the *party dresses which Mrs. Hall is having made for her. 1960 [see cover-up attrib. or quasi-adj.]. 1973 G. Greene Honorary Consul iv. ii. 195 A pale-faced child of three..dressed in a blue party dress. |
| 1791–1823 D'Israeli Cur. Lit., Suppressors of MSS., All *party feeling is the same active spirit with an opposite direction. 1883 S. C. Hall Retrospect I. 130 Party feeling ran frightfully high. |
| 1898 Daily News 10 Dec. 6/3 *Party frocks for girls aged from 11 to 16 years. |
| 1960 Times 3 Aug. 5/2 A juvenile delinquent cousin who appears..*party-frocked in the second [act]. |
| 1718 Blackmore Alfred xi. (1723) 400 And *Party-Fury took the Rebells Side. |
| 1929 G. Mitchell Mystery of Butcher's Shop xvii. 192 Idiotic invitations to play silly *party games with pencils and paper. 1972 Guardian 14 Mar. 14/6 Party game time. What do the following have in common? |
| 1936 Sun (Baltimore) 20 Apr. 3/1 A ‘*party girl's’ flat was hunted by police today as the probable scene of the slaying of Arthur P. Hewitt, rich retired contractor. 1960 A. West Trend is Up vii. 298 He had never thought of asking himself what she was, inside of the hard shell of her disguise as the party girl who would go the limit for fun. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 11 July 5/2 The prostitutes and partygirls who hang around the beer parlors are having poor pickings, police say. 1977 Time 26 Dec. 36/1 He characterized Sylvia Miles as a ‘party girl and gate crasher’. |
| 1864 Trollope Small House at Allington II. xxiii. 242 Nor had they any ground on which to stand, except the *party-giving ground. 1879 F. W. Robinson Coward Conscience ii. vii, It did not seem a time for party-giving. 1963 Times Lit. Suppl. 10 May 345/2 A sensible guide to party-giving of every sort. |
| 1831 Society I. 257 That young woman has the manners of a practised *party-goer. |
| 1864 Trollope Small House at Allington II. xxvi. 274, I knew it wasn't to be all *party-going and that sort of thing. 1973 Listener 14 June 805/2, I am probably..cloistered..when it comes to party-going, but I do hear a lot of talk and gossip. 1977 M. Hinxman One-Way Cemetery xvi. 119 She didn't feel up to party-going and I sympathized. |
| 1869 R. F. D. Palgrave House of Commons 22 This system is called *party government. 1879 Froude Cæsar iii. 28 Party government turns on the majorities at the polling places. |
| 1899 Beerbohm More 89, I should be glad to see..his office held by an artist, not by a *party-hack. 1974 E. Ambler Dr. Frigo ii. 73 Your father's party needed a Cavour... All they had were party hacks. |
| [1908 G. Wallas Human Nature in Politics iii. 84 A party..is primarily a name, which, like other names, calls up when it is heard or seen an ‘image’ that shades imperceptibly into the voluntary realisation of its meaning.] 1960 Butler & Rose Brit. Gen. Election 1959 iii. 17 In the two years before the 1959 election the Conservative party engaged in a public relations campaign{ddd}the term ‘*party image’ was continually invoked. 1962 Listener 19 Apr. 702/2 In the discussion of the Party Image in the same programme, the Liberals appeared to me to come out best. |
| 1931 G. B. Shaw Fabian Ess. Socialism Pref. p. xiv, Candidates with a *party label, pledged to vote for their party right or wrong. |
| 1718 Rowe tr. Lucan i. 492 And bring the Potent *Party-Leaders low. 1882 A. Bain John Stuart Mill ii. 60 That his father would have made an able minister or party-leader, we must cheerfully allow. 1974 E. Ambler Dr. Frigo i. 56 The loss of our Party leader..was a demoralizing blow. 1976 Encounter June 78/2 The party leader believes in himself, and his supporters believe in him because he is their leader. |
| 1712 Addison Spect. No. 507 ¶2 That abominable Practice of Party-lying:..a *Party-lie is grown as fashionable an Entertainment, as a lively Catch or a merry Story. |
| 1832 Dickens Let. 30 July (1965) I. 7, I give you this early notice not because there is anything formal or *party like in the arrangements. |
| 1875 Encycl. Brit. III. 291/2 This voting..carried on by *party-lists on differently coloured cards is practically open. 1968 Listener 20 June 806/2 Freedom and participation in one's place of work are to replace constituency or ‘party list’ democratic choice. |
| 1882 A. Bain John Stuart Mill iv. 125 He set a good example of perfect *party loyalty, combined with the assertion of difference of opinion on particular questions. 1968 W. Safire New Lang. Politics 321/1 ‘Sometimes party loyalty asks too much,’ said John F. Kennedy to a Democratic friend, excusing him for supporting Republican Leverett Saltonstall for Senator of Massachusetts. |
| 1891 ‘O. Thanet’ Otto the Knight 266 He can't be trusted to run the office as a *party machine, and Milton Bedford can! 1918 Observer 29 Sept. 6/2 No serious citizen..can doubt..what is imperatively demanded by the interests of the nation, no matter what may be the interests of some caucuses and party-machines. 1939 War Illustr. 2 Dec. 375/3 Even in Germany itself there are millions who stand aloof from the seething mass of criminality and corruption constituted by the Nazi party machine. 1972 Guardian 8 June 12/2 The wholehearted support of the party machine rather than just a resigned tokenism. 1977 Cleethorpes News 6 May 7/4 It is a moot point whether they do much good because, like other party machines, the Conservative local unit functions day-in and day-out pretty successfully. |
| 1702 C. Mather Magn. Chr. vii. i. (1852) 490 Little piques..have misled all the neighbors..into most unaccountable *party-making. |
| 1881 Bradstreet's IV. 305 The voters of Kings county have usually been relied upon by *party managers. 1885 W. Harris Hist. Radical Party ii. 19 That great body of the people who were too frequently regarded by placemen and party managers as machines to be used and property to be disposed of. |
| 1930 A. Harris tr. P. Cohen-Portheim's England, the Unknown Isle iv. 45 When we get into our party clothes we put on our *party manners and party conversation with them. 1931 R. R. Marett in W. Rose Outl. Mod. Knowledge 422 After much steam has been blown off, all cheerfully assume their party-manners. 1969 ‘J. Morris’ Fever Grass ii. 22 A child suddenly remembering its party manners. 1974 G. Jenkins Bridge of Magpies xii. 178 Judging from what I've seen of their party manners, it won't be a pretty operation. |
| 1931 H. Nicolson Diary 22 Sept. (1966) 91 *Party-meeting at 11.30. 1976 S. Hynes Auden Generation v. 138 It's a Battlefield..is full of Communists, and a long scene is devoted to a Party meeting. |
| 1920 S. Lewis Main St. x. 116 He's a socialist..a regular old-line *party-member. 1942 [see fellow-traveller 2]. 1974 ‘J. Le Carré’ Tinker, Tailor xvii. 147 His father was a docker..and a Party member. |
| 1972 Listener 20 July 69/2 According to the proposed Democratic Party charter, there would be a national dues-paying *party membership. 1976 S. Hynes Auden Generation ix. 317 For Upward, Party membership seems to have been a mode of salvation in a desperate time. |
| 1957 R. N. C. Hunt Guide to Communist Jargon xxxii. 110 *Party-mindedness (‘Partiinost’) was given its classical formulation by Lenin in his polemic with Peter Struve of the middle 'nineties, when he laid down that ‘Materialism involves party-mindedness, since it compels us in evaluating anything which takes place openly and directly to adopt the standpoint of a specific social group’. 1958 Ann. Reg. 1957 209 Leading writers..were reminded that negative features of Soviet life could be criticized only from the standpoint of ‘Party-mindedness’ (partiynost) i.e. recognition that all defects were being successfully overcome by the Party. |
| 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) III. 280 If any is so zealous To be a *party-minion. |
| 1727 De Foe Syst. Magic i. ii. (1840) 59 The magic of the *party-mongers. |
| 1973 H. McCloy Change of Heart ix. 104 I'm hardly in a *party mood. My father is still unconscious. 1976 G. Sims End of Web xvii. 116 Being quite sober and not in a party mood they shared a feeling of detachment. |
| 1751 Pope's Wks. V. 164 He began under twenty with furious *Party-Papers. |
| 1838 J. S. Mill in Westm. Rev. XXXII. 246 The ‘Standard’..on this occasion has merged the *party passions..in the sympathy of talent for talent. 1945 W. S. Churchill Victory (1946) 193 If party passions, doctrines, and ambitions were to dominate our life for any lengthy period, [etc.]. |
| 1942 C. E. Smith Jazz Record Bk. 81 The ‘*party piano’ style, a growth that owes more to oldtime blues playing than to any other one source, was already a flourishing development in the 1930's. 1946 R. Blesh Shining Trumpets xiv. 337 A number of gifted Harlem pianists in the ‘party-piano’ tradition. |
| 1962 Listener 6 Sept. 367/1 A late-night series of *party pieces. 1967 ‘P. Loraine’ W.I.L. One to Curtis i. 20 It's been my party piece for over a year now: not family parties, I hasten to add. 1969 E. H. Pinto Treen 86 Although all these spoons could be used,..one feels that they were very much ‘party pieces’. |
| 1973 Times 25 Apr. 10/1 (Advt.), Scott James of Westminster distribute a superb range of family clothing direct to the consumer, through *party plan and catalogue selling techniques. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 30 June 5-D/3 (Advt.), Montana owned firm looking for party plan representatives in Billings area. Work your own hours for good commission. 1977 Evening Gaz. (Middlesbrough) 11 Jan. 10/2 (Advt.), Party Plan demonstrators, car available for ambitious applicant. |
| 1848 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 1st Ser. 111 It gives a *Party Platform, tu, jest level with the mind Of..honest folks thet mean to go it blind. 1964 Gould & Kolb Dict. Social Sci. 484/1 A party platform is a general statement of principles, policies, and issues, and a programme of promises which the party pledges to enact into legislation. 1972 Jrnl. Social Psychol. LXXXVII. 46 Public opinion should not be a major concern of political leaders in writing party platforms. |
| 1957 Times 14 May 11/2 There was an admirable absence of rancour or effort to make *party points when the decision to afford British ships the facilities for using the Suez Canal again was announced in the House of Commons yesterday. |
| 1886 G. Whetenall Echetlus i. 60 Let us consider shortly some of these results, the common phenomena of our *party-political life. 1910 Party-political [see cartoon n. 2]. 1947 Radio Times 14 Mar. 1/1 Party political broadcasts of a controversial character are to be resumed. 1966 New Statesman 4 Mar. 289/1, I am..unable to watch party-politicals at all. 1974 Guardian 23 Jan. 1/1 A plan to shorten ‘News at Ten’ to make way for a party political broadcast. 1977 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXV. 467/1 Such questions are..essentially political, though not necessarily party-political. |
| 1831 J. S. Mill in Examiner 9 Jan. 20/2 They who prefer the ravings of a *party politician to the musings of a recluse, may consult a late article in Blackwood's Magazine. |
| 1773 W. Melmoth Rem. on Cato 142 The narrow and polluted channels of *party-politicks. 1922 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Oct. 116 The ‘party politics complex’ in the mind of the party politician. 1942 L. B. Namier Conflicts 200 It is of paramount importance that the extent to which our present constitutional system is bound up with party organisations and party politics should be fully understood. 1961 Middle East Jrnl. XV. 6 The bulk of the preparation had..proceeded under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior, whose officials are barred from party activity and probably generally disinterested in party politics. |
| 1969 New Yorker 11 Oct. 53/1 They pecked the hostess farewell, apologized in unison for being *party poops. |
| 1954 Amer. Speech XXIX. 293 Such comic master⁓pieces as lounge lizard and *party pooper are of American origin. 1956 in Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang (1960) 377/1 No one can call Mr. Bulganin and Mr. Khrushchev party poopers... The Russian leaders demonstrated their suavity and cleverness at the party. |
| 1788 Sheridan in Sheridaniana 99 Every *party-prejudice has been overcome by a display of genius. |
| 1842 Dickens Let. 1 Apr. (1974) III. 176 The silly, drivelling, slanderous, wicked, monstrous *Party Press. 1950 Middle East Jrnl. Apr. 168 With one full-fledged journal d'information..a party press..Egyptian journalism can look to an interesting future. |
| 1705 Stanhope Paraphr. I. 50 By such profitable Condescensions on either side..they would lay down all *Party-quarrels. |
| 1803 Deb. Congress U.S. 6 Jan. (1851) 337 This ought not to be made a *party question. 1885 A. Crump Formation Polit. Opinion 152 The position was now far too grave to be treated as a party question. |
| 1711 Addison Spect. No. 57 ¶4 That *Party-Rage which of late Years is very much crept into their Conversation. 1813 Scott Rokeby vi. viii, Brute and blind⁓fold party rage. |
| 1941 ‘G. Orwell’ Lion & Unicorn i. 16 No *party rallies, no Youth Movements. 1959 I. Jefferies Thirteen Days vi. 75 A single truck stuck out like a top hat at a Party rally. |
| 1964 Amer. Folk Music Occasional i. 10 Under-the-Counter ‘*party’ records provide a traditional version of The Eddystone Light. 1968 P. Oliver Screening Blues vi. 175 The cheapened styles of the party records which have a large illicit sale in the white society. |
| 1855 Tennyson Maud xxv. 91 And another, a statesman there, betraying His *party-secret, fool, to the press. |
| 1711 Addison Spect. No. 125 ¶3 A furious *Party Spirit..exerts it self in Civil War and Bloodshed. 1882 Farrar Early Chr. II. 87 Any lie, however often refuted, is good enough for party-spirit. 1941 N. Marsh Death & Dancing Footman (1942) viii. 151 He's gone into a huddle over the fire and does not exactly manifest the party spirit. 1971 S. Jepson Let. to Dead Girl xix. 218 I'm not ungregarious but I'm quite incapable of the party spirit in a roomful of people busy smoking themselves into lung cancer. |
| 1974 J. White tr. Poulantzas's Fascism & Dictatorship iii. ii. 113 It is unnecessary to go into details of the continuous contradictions between big capital and the Nazi *party-state. 1977 P. Johnson Enemies of Society vi. 78 Nazi Germany was equally frank in imposing control of labour and eliminating all foci of political and economic power other than the party-state. |
| 1824 J. S. Mill in Westm. Rev. I. 530 Here..the evils of the *party system are most clearly shown. 1959 B. & R. North tr. Duverger's Pol. Parties (ed. 2) ii. 203 With the exception of the single-party states, several parties coexist in each country: the forms and modes of their coexistence define the ‘party system’ of the particular country being considered. |
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 270/2 A Parte taker (A. *Partitaker), particeps. |
| 1961 How-to-do-it-Encycl. (Mechanix Illustr.) I. 12 If you are a *party thrower, you may need added capacity. 1962 Listener 22 Feb. 347/3 One friend of mine, a compulsive party thrower, had four flats in five months. |
| 1929 Radio Times 8 Nov. 390/1 Tony Monke..has been persuaded to execute his best *party trick of standing on his head. |
| 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 229 The latter part of the campaign we made only a *party war. |
| 1829 Bentham Justice & Cod. Petit., Abr. Petit. Justice 33 Say accordingly *party-witnesses, or testifying parties. |
| 1725 Swift in Pope's Wks. (1751) IX. 55 Fortune is both blind and deaf, and a Court-lady, but then she is a most damnable *Party-woman. |
| 1892 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 2 Oct. 1/7 The ‘*party workers’.. were well represented. 1935 N. Mitchison We have been Warned i. 51 The thick sense of urgency and seriousness which was beginning to show among the Party workers. 1974 Listener 14 Mar. 330/2 On election day, my wife and I..did the traditional tour..to thank and encourage the party workers. |
| 1714 Addison Spect. No. 567 ¶3 Our *Party-writers are so sensible of the secret Vertue of an Innuendo to recommend their Productions. 1836 H. Rogers J. Howe i. (1863) 12 note, That splenetic party-writer Anthony Wood. |
| a 1746 Holdsworth On Virgil (1768) 401 Passion and spleen may so far blind an Historian..as to make him prostitute his character to *party zeal. |
| 1711 Pope Temp. Fame 464 Priests, and *party-zealots, num'rous bands. |
Hence
ˈpartyism, the system of parties; excessive attachment to a party, party spirit; so
ˈpartyist, a partisan;
ˈpartykin, a small party;
† ˈpartyship, the being of a party, partisanship.
| 1842 Amer. Pioneer I. 278 *Partyism or love of party is the vibratory motion. 1844 M. Hennell Soc. Syst. 191 It [human nature] persists in living in industrial incoherence and family partyism. 1886 Goldw. Smith in Macm. Mag. Aug. 247 Allowance being made for all the partyism..by which the great issue was obscured. 1903 Dial (Chicago) 16 Mar. 194/2 The vast canvas whereon he has painted American partyism with all its deformities. |
| 1889 Voice (N.Y.) 10 Jan., The temperance men in the Republican party outnumber the ‘third *partyists seven to one’. |
| 1855 Thackeray Let. in Virgin. (1903) Introd. 19, I had a very pleasant *partykin last night. |
| 1650 Hollingworth Exerc. Usurped Powers 5 The Kingdom is divided by *partieship with them, on the one side or the other. |
▸
to bring (something) to the party:
= to bring (something) to the table at
table n. Phrases 8.
| 1978 Chem. Week 29 Mar. 23/3 We want to be involved because we can bring something to the party. Sometimes it's patents, sometimes process knowledge. 1989 C. S. Murray Crosstown Traffic vii. 167 The bandleader's art is a specialized one... It is the ability to weld musicians together to realize the leader's vision, while simultaneously allowing that vision to be enriched and inspired by what the individual players are able to bring to the party. 2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 7 Sept. iii. 10/5 Two copywriters applying for jobs at an advertising agency are asked what they would bring to the party. |
▸
party foul n. slang (
orig. U.S.) an instance of socially inappropriate behaviour at a party or social gathering; (more generally) a faux pas, an unacceptable mistake.
| 1989 P. Munro U.C.L.A. Slang 61 *Party foul, to do something inappropriate or rude at a party of social gathering: especially, to vomit or spill alcohol. 1991Another List of Terms in alt.drugs (Usenet newsgroup) 17 June Party Foul: Among other things, spilling the bong juice (smells really bad). 1998 Calgary Sun (Nexis) 13 Sept. 6 You wouldn't see Clinton leaving his dope in a crashed, roadside vehicle. That's a major party foul. 2002 Village Voice 28 May 12/2 Danny Chavis rushed over to hand me a gin-and-tonic, drawing the ire of model Oluchi when he spilled it on her arm. Party foul! |
▪ II. party, a. (
ˈpɑːtɪ)
Also 4–7
-i, 5
-ye, 5–8
ie.
[a. F. parti:—L. partīt-us divided, pa. pple. of partir, L. partīre to part, divide.] † 1. Parted, divided; separate;
fig. separate in character, different.
Obs.| a 1400–50 Alexander 668 Oft storbis me þi statour and stingis me ȝerne, Þat þi personale proporcion sa party is to myne. |
b. gold party,
party gold: beaten gold, gold leaf.
Sc. Obs.| 1496 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 293 For ij⊇ of gold party to the Duke of Ȝorkis banar. 1507 Ibid. III. 404, iiij quaris parti gold. |
† 2. Parti-coloured, variegated.
Obs.| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 195 She gadereth floures party white & rede. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 312 Juno let bende hire parti bowe. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 385/1 Party clothe, or clothe made of dyuers colowrys. 1494 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 225, v½ quarteris of crammesyn satyne to be half a party dowblat. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. iv. 201 The party popill grane Heildit his heid wyth skug Herculeane. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 38 Partie letters and other fansies. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. Q, Some [Hyacinths] are more double, as well White as Blew, and therefore are to be esteemed because of their Party-flowering. |
b. fig. Combining two different qualities; of composite character.
Obs.| c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 316 Fortune, the goddesse, with her party face. 1563 Winȝet Vincent. Lirin. Wks. 1890 II. 6, I hef præparit..a litle, partie, handsum, instrument that may suffice ws,..bayth for a waippin and werk⁓lume, for a speir or a spade. |
3. Her. Said of a shield divided into parts of different tinctures, usually into two such parts by a line in the direction of an ordinary (indicated by
per); thus
party per pale, divided by a vertical line through the middle;
party per fess, by a horizontal line through the middle; so
party per bend,
party per chevron: see
pale,
fess n., etc.
(In blazoning now usually omitted,
per pale, etc. being used instead of
party per pale, etc.) Also
parted,
q.v.| 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Heraldry F ij, He berith party after the longe way of ij colouris golde and goules. 1562 Leigh Armorie 43 b, Party per Fesse, Argent, and Vert. Ibid. 45 Partye per Cheuron, Or, and Geules. 1605 Camden Rem. (1637) 225 Iohn Beauford..bare party per pale Argent and Azure a bend of England with a labell of France. 1725 Coats Dict. Her., Partie, or Party, signifies in French divided, but their Heralds use it only to denote what we call Party, or Parted per pale. 1882 Cussans Handbk. Her. iv. (ed. 3) 72 A Shield is never party of any of the Diminutives, or of the Chief or Bar. |
† b. party per pale (
fig.): Having two different,
esp. opposite or contrasted, qualities; of mixed or composite character; half-and-half. (
Cf. 2 b.)
Obs.| 1616 B. Jonson Epigr. lxxiii, Your partie per pale picture one half drawn In solemn cypres, the other cob-web-lawne. a 1652 Brome Covent Garden i. i Wks. 1873 II. 13 O thou party perpale, or rather parboild Bawd. 1717 Hearne in Reliq. (1857) I. 376 It was, as I hear, a party per pale sermon, viz. both for the whiggs and for the tories. 1781 H. Walpole Let. to C'tess Ossory 18 Dec., A grandee hopping with one foot on the haut du pavé, and t'other in the kennel, partie per pale, ermine and mud! |
4. Comb., as
† party-livered, of divided loves; see also
parti-,
parti-coloured.
| 1601 Chester Love's Mart. etc. (1878) 180 Not like that loose and partie-liuer'd Sect Of idle Louers, that..Change their Affections with their Mistris Sights. |
▪ III. ˈparty, v. [f. party n.] † 1. a. trans. To take the part of, side with.
b. intr. To side (
with).
= part v. 14.
Sc. Obs. rare.
| a 1639 Spottiswood Hist. Ch. Scot. vi. (1677) 412 The Lords Levingston and Elphinston did party the committers. 1644 Hume Hist. Doug. 16 This house of Abernethie..did assist and party them in all their enterprises. 1734 R. Keith Hist. Ch. Scot. i. xi. 121 The Earl of Huntly..had, it seems, an unfix'd Resolution what Side to party with. |
† 2. to party it: to take sides; to form a party.
Obs. rare.
| 1656 S. H. Gold. Law 72 To incense the people to faction or party it against him. Ibid. 81. |
3. N. Amer. a. intr. To give a party; to attend a party; to have a good time.
b. trans. To entertain (someone) at a party; to accompany to a party.
| 1922 E. E. Cummings Let. 5 Dec. (1969) 91 Haven't seen Vanity All is Fair in? but have extensively partyed with Er former Heditor. 1948 Penguin New Writing XXXV. 106 Between times, when they were not drinking at the cafés, partying, writing, or making love, they talked a lot and did a certain amount of thinking. 1953 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 12 July 8/1 The delegates and guests..were partied to a crisp. 1957 M. Millar Soft Talkers 97 All those times when I was so ill I could scarcely move and he went off partying. 1963 D. B. Hughes Expendable Man (1964) ii. 30 You can't imagine the entertainment she's had..every club on the campus has partied her. 1967 [see joiner n. 1 b]. 1971 J. Philips Escape a Killer (1972) i. iii. 34 You're to drive into New York..stay there a few days... Peter will party you around. 1973 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 25 Feb. 6/3 Everybody crowded in, the home brew arrived and we partied until 4 in the morning. 1976 H. Nielsen Brink of Murder xx. 177 A small crowd..who had been partying on another boat. 1977 Time 31 Jan. 31/1 Outgoing Democratic National Committee Chairman Robert Strauss partied along with singer Helen Reddy and actor Alan Alda. Ibid. 25 Apr. 48/3 Los Angeles rockers do not lack for private places in which to party. |
Hence
ˈpartying vbl. n. and ppl. a.| 1681 Whole Duty Nations 37 Such kind of partyings in Religion..are like the Hetæriæ or Cabals in Civil Government. 1717 Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 323 And you'll scarce now meet with a case, but..in ten minutes' time, you'll see a partying of ministers and great men. 1953 W. P. McGivern Big Heat iv. 54 A woman..waiting up for a partying teen⁓age daughter. 1970 N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon ii. 42 There was so much partying that not a few people wondered about the size of the national hangover. 1977 Daily Tel. 9 Apr. 15/6 Mrs Trudeau returned to Ottawa after a weekend of partying in Toronto with the Rolling Stones. |
▪ IV. party, adv. see
party n. 1 b.