We looked at words beginning with
part, so now it’s time to look at words with part at the end. Or the middle.
Part of course being from the Proto Indo European pere-, grant or allot.
First, apart showed up in the late fourteenth century, from the Old French
a part. So, no major revelations
here. The a comes from the classical
Latin ad, to,
and partem, which means part and is from pars, a piece or a part.
And that word is traced from pere-.
So it’s… to part something. To set something apart.
Depart showed up in the mid thirteenth century as departen, and while it meant to depart
as we know it, for a little while it also meant to separate into parts, which
we don’t use at all anymore. It’s from the Old French departir, to divide, separate oneself, or even to die, from the Late Latin departire, to divide. The de- means from, and partire
is to part or divide, so this word is to part from. That makes sense, although
the separate into parts thing is still weird. Anyway, partire is from pars,
which is from pere-. Man, is it just me, or are all these words really
straightforward? How bizarre!
Now for a word where part is in the
middle. Compartment showed up in the mid sixteenth century from the Middle French
compartiment, from the Italian compartimento, from the Late Latin compartiri, to divide. The com- prefix
is probably just intensive here, and the
rest is from pars. So a compartment is something that’s really separated out.
Impart showed up in the early fifteenth century, although back then
it meant to give part of your possessions, and then later on it meant to share
or take part in. So while impart once referred to physical possessions, it
morphed into non-physical things, and these days that’s the only way we use it.
It’s from the Old French empartir/imparter,
to allocate or share, from the Late Latin impartire,
to share or divide with another. The in- is from en and means in,
big shocker, and, well, partire again. Impart is to share in? I guess that
kind of makes sense. Almost.
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