partito

Partito is an Italian word with several related uses. In political language, it denotes a political party or faction within a country’s system: un partito politico; i partiti di governo; un partito di opposizione. The term can refer to a named organization or, more broadly, to a group sharing a program or ideology. In everyday speech it is most often understood in its political sense.

Grammatically, partito is also the masculine singular past participle of partire, the verb meaning to leave or depart. In compound tenses it uses the auxiliary essere and agrees with the subject: Il treno è partito; la nave è partita; i treni sono partiti; le navi sono partite. The feminine form is partita and the plural forms include partiti (masc.) or partite (fem.) when the context requires agreement with the subject.

Etymology and usage notes: the political sense of partito rests on the idea of a side or division within a larger political body, contributing to its sense of a discrete group with a program. The noun is related, through historical development, to Latin roots such as pars and partitio, and to the verb partire in its participial form. As a result, partito functions as a stable term in modern Italian for organized political groups, while departing usage remains tied to the verb partire.

See also: partito politico, fazione, partizione.