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 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.
By a participle, [I understand] a verb in an
adjectival aspect.
Earle.
&fist; 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.
2. Anything that partakes of the nature of
different things. [Obs.]
The participles or confines between plants and
living creatures.
Bacon.
