Parthian arrow, an arrow discharged at an enemy when retreating from him, as was the custom of the ancient Parthians; hence, a parting shot.

Partial
(Par"tial) a. [F., fr. LL. partials, fr. L. pars, gen. partis, a part; cf. (for sense 1) F. partiel. See Part, n.]

1. Of, pertaining to, or affecting, a part only; not general or universal; not total or entire; as, a partial eclipse of the moon. "Partial dissolutions of the earth." T. Burnet.

2. Inclined to favor one party in a cause, or one side of a question, more then the other; baised; not indifferent; as, a judge should not be partial.

Ye have been partial in the law.
Mal. ii. 9.

Parter to Parting

Parter
(Part"er) n. One who, or which, parts or separates. Sir P. Sidney.

Parterre
(Par*terre") n. [F., fr. par on, by (L. per)+terre earth, ground, L. terra. See Terrace.]

1. (Hort.) An ornamental and diversified arrangement of beds or plots, in which flowers are cultivated, with intervening spaces of gravel or turf for walking on.

2. The pit of a theater; the parquet. [France]

Partheniad
(Par*the"ni*ad) n. [See Parthenic.] A poem in honor of a virgin. [Obs.]

Parthenic
(Par*then"ic) a. [Gr. fr. a maid, virgin.] Of or pertaining to the Spartan Partheniæ, or sons of unmarried women.

Parthenogenesis
(Par`the*no*gen"e*sis) n. [Gr. parqe`nos a virgin + E. genesis.]

1. (Biol.) The production of new individuals from virgin females by means of ova which have the power of developing without the intervention of the male element; the production, without fertilization, of cells capable of germination. It is one of the phenomena of alternate generation. Cf. Heterogamy, and Metagenesis.

2. (Bot.) The production of seed without fertilization, believed to occur through the nonsexual formation of an embryo extraneous to the embrionic vesicle.

Parthenogenetic
(Par`the*no*ge*net"ic), a. (Biol.) Of, pertaining to, or produced by, parthenogenesis; as, parthenogenetic forms.Par`the*no*ge*net"ic*al*ly, adv.

Parthenogenitive
(Par`the*no*gen"i*tive) a. (Biol.) Parthenogenetic.

Parthenogeny
(Par`the*nog"e*ny) n. (Biol.) Same as Parthenogenesis.

Parthenon
(Par"the*non) n. [L., fr. Gr. Parqenw`n, fr.parqe`nos a virgin, i. e., Athene, the Greek goddess called also Pallas.] A celebrated marble temple of Athene, on the Acropolis at Athens. It was of the pure Doric order, and has had an important influence on art.

Parthenope
(||Par*then"o*pe) n. [L., the name of a Siren, fr. Gr. Parqeno`pn.]

1. (Gr. Myth.) One of the Sirens, who threw herself into the sea, in despair at not being able to beguile Ulysses by her songs.

2. One of the asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, discovered by M. de Gasparis in 1850.

Parthian
(Par"thi*an) a. Of or pertaining to ancient Parthia, in Asia.n. A native of Parthia.

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