partiële

Partiële is a Dutch adjective meaning partial or in part. It functions as the feminine singular form of partieel and is used to describe feminine nouns or nouns in definite phrases (for example, de partiële oplossing). The term is common in mathematical, scientific, and technical contexts, where it denotes partiality or a component of a larger whole. The word derives from Latin partialis, via the evolution through French and other Romance languages.

In mathematics and related disciplines, partiële is routinely employed in terms that denote operations or concepts involving only some variables of a larger system. A key example is de partiële afgeleide, the partial derivative of a multivariable function with respect to one variable while keeping the others fixed; this is usually written as ∂f/∂x. Another important term is partiële differentiaalvergelijking, referring to a partial differential equation (PDE), which involves partial derivatives of an unknown function of several variables and plays a central role in physics, engineering, and applied mathematics. Partiële integratie is the Dutch expression for integration by parts, a technique used in single-variable calculus and applicable in more advanced contexts as well.

Beyond mathematics, partiële is used in physics and chemistry to describe contributions that belong to a subset of a system, such as partiële druk (partial pressure) in gas mixtures, according to Dalton’s law. It also appears in statistical and econometric terminology, where phrases like partiële correlatie or partiële regressie describe relationships observed after accounting for other variables.

Overall, partiële serves as a versatile technical descriptor across disciplines, signaling partiality or a component within a larger whole.