English
particle
Particle comes from Latin particula ‘small part, particle’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *partis.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*partis‘part’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpars‘part, piece’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEparticula‘small part, particle’diminutive of pars
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600particule
- Englishearliest quotation 1844particle
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*partis‘part’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpars‘part, piece’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEparticula‘small part, particle’diminutive of pars
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600particule
- Englishearliest quotation 1844particle
Earliest quotation: 1844, E. A. Andrews: First Lessions in Latin; , Boston): “322. The parts of speech which are neither declined…”
The story
Semantically displaced native Old English grot whence modern English groat.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *perh₃- ‘to provide, produce, beget’
empire, experiment, expert, imperial, repair, preparation, parental, para, parity, imperium, imperious, pare, rampart, 40 more
through Latin pars ‘part, piece’
party, depart, parse, impart, repartee, parter, 21 more
through Latin particula ‘small part, particle’
Today it means
noun A very small piece of matter, a fragment; especially, the smallest possible part of something.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *partis / particle