[pahr-tuh-zuh
n, -suhn; Brit. pahr-tuh-zan] 
| 1. | an adherent or supporter of a person, group, party, or cause, esp. a person who shows a biased, emotional allegiance. |
| 2. | Military. a member of a party of light or irregular troops engaged in harassing an enemy, esp. a member of a guerrilla band engaged in fighting or sabotage against an occupying army. |
| 3. | of, pertaining to, or characteristic of partisans; partial to a specific party, person, etc.: partisan politics. |
| 4. | of, pertaining to, or carried on by military partisans or guerrillas. |
[pahr-tuh-zuhn, -suhn] | a shafted weapon of the 16th and 17th centuries, having as a head a long spear blade with a pair of curved lobes at the base. |
| par·ti·san 1 (pär'tĭ-zən) n.
[French, from Old French, from Old Italian dialectal partisano, variant of Old Italian partigiano, from parte, part, from Latin pars, part-; see part.] par'ti·san·ship' n. |
| par·ti·san 2 also par·ti·zan (pär'tĭ-zən) n. A weapon having a blade with lateral projections mounted on the end of a long shaft, used chiefly in the 16th and 17th centuries. [French partizane, from Italian dialectal *(arma) partisana, partisan (weapon), feminine sing. of partisano, supporter; see partisan1.] |