Participle \Par"ti*ci*ple\, n. [F. participe, L. participium,
fr. particeps sharing, participant; pars, gen. partis, a part
+ capere to take. See Participate.]
1. (Gram.) A part of speech partaking of the nature of both
verb and adjective; a form of a verb, or verbal adjective,
modifying a noun, but taking the adjuncts of the verb from
which it is derived. In the sentences: a letter is
written; being asleep he did not hear; exhausted by toil
he will sleep soundly, -- written, being, and exhaustedare
participles.
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By a participle, [I understand] a verb in an
adjectival aspect. --Earle.
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Note: Present participles, called also imperfect, or
incomplete, participles, end in -ing. Past participles,
called also perfect, or complete, participles, for the
most part end in -ed, -d, -t, -en, or -n. A participle
when used merely as an attribute of a noun, without
reference to time, is called an adjective, or a
participial adjective; as, a written constitution; a
rolling stone; the exhausted army. The verbal noun in
-ing has the form of the present participle. See
Verbal noun, under Verbal, a.
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2. Anything that partakes of the nature of different things.
[Obs.]
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The participles or confines between plants and
living creatures. --Bacon.
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