Meaning

verb have some of the qualities or attributes of something

verb have, give, or receive a share of

verb consume

originBack-formation from Middle English part-takinge, part-takynge (“a sharing; partaking”), a calque of Latin particeps (“participating”); equivalent to part + take. Compare take part. In the sense of taking a share or portion of something, displaced native Old English onbītan (“to taste of, to partake of”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0