Parting

How to spell parting

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce parting

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does parting mean?

1. nounThe act of leaving someone or separating, especially a farewell.
2. nounThe line on the scalp where the hair is combed in different directions.

Parting in a sentence

• Their parting at the airport was brief but emotional.

• He combed a neat parting down the left side of his head.

• The parting of the two business partners was handled amicably.

• Her parting was straight and perfectly centred.

Where does parting come from?

Language of origin: French

This word grows from the verb 'part', which English took from the Old French 'partir', meaning 'to divide' or 'to separate', itself descended from the Latin 'partire', built on 'pars' (genitive 'partis'), meaning 'a part' or 'a portion'. The original idea was simply the act of dividing something into pieces, and from there the sense naturally widened to people dividing from one another, that is, going their separate ways. By the time the noun 'parting' settled into Middle English, it carried both the literal sense of splitting or separating and the emotional sense of saying goodbye. The same 'pars' root sits inside everyday relatives such as 'partial', 'partner', and 'apartment', all of which involve something being divided or set apart. The straightforward spelling rarely traps writers, since it is simply 'part' with a regular '-ing' ending.

How the word is built

• part (to divide, separate)
• -ing (noun/gerund suffix)