Dictionary entries for 'partial'

Synonyms

par·tial (päŕshəl)

[Middle English parcial, from Old French, from Late Latin partiālis, from Latin pars, part-, part; see part.]

adjective

Of, relating to, being, or affecting only a part; not total; incomplete: The plan calls for partial deployment of missiles. The police have only a partial description of the suspect.
Favoring one person or side over another or others; biased or prejudiced: a decision that was partial to the plaintiff.
Having a particular liking or fondness for something or someone: partial to spicy food.
Mathematics Of or being operations or sequences of operations, such as differentiation and integration, when applied to only one of several variables at a time.

har·mon·ic (här-mŏńĭk)

[Latin harmonicus, from Greek harmonikos, from harmoniā, harmony; see harmony.]

1. Of or relating to harmony.
2. Pleasing to the ear: harmonic orchestral effects.
3. Characterized by harmony: a harmonic liturgical chant.
Of or relating to harmonics.
Integrated in nature.

1. Any of a series of musical tones whose frequencies are integral multiples of the frequency of a fundamental tone.
2. A tone produced on a stringed instrument by lightly touching an open or stopped vibrating string at a given fraction of its length so that both segments vibrate. Also called overtone, partial, partial tone
The theory or study of the physical properties and characteristics of musical sound.
Physics A wave whose frequency is a whole-number multiple of that of another.