Meaning

noun word (such a `some' or `less') that is used to indicate a part as distinct from a whole

adjective (Romance languages) relating to or denoting a part of a whole or a quantity that is less than the whole

adjective indicating or characterized by or serving to create partition or division into parts

originInherited from Middle English partitif, borrowed from Medieval Latin partītīvus, from Latin partītus + -īvus.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0