pə(r)ˌtisəˈpāshən, (ˌ)pärˌt-, (ˌ)pȧˌt- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English participacioun, from Late Latin participation-, participatio, from Latin participatus (past participle of participare ) + -ion-, -io -ion
1. : the action or state of participating: as
a. : the action or state of partaking of something (as a substance or quality)
the common participation of any pleasure — James Boswell
— often used with in
participation in the divine nature — K.S.Latourette
the participation in meanings and goods … effected by communication — John Dewey
b.
(1) : association with others in a relationship (as a partnership) or an enterprise usually on a formal basis with specified rights and obligations
a loan made directly or in participation with a bank
(2) : profit sharing
c.
(1) : the action or state of taking part with others in an activity
participation in partisan politics — John Lodge
active participation in the field of international affairs — Current Biography
giving his readers a sense of personal participation in these explorations — Rachel L. Carson
(2) : social interaction in a group (as a family, club, community) especially as carried on through attendance at and contributions to group activities
measure the intensity of social participation in a rural community
2. : the relation in Platonism of objects in the actual world to the transcendental universal forms or ideas constituting the essential nature of the objects, which are held to be only partial and imperfect embodiments of the ideas — compare imitation
3. : share
the theater … came in for a full participation in the benefit — Tyrone Power †1841
for a few dollars she buys a participation in the creative act — Harper's
4.
a. : something in which shares are taken by more than one party — compare participating mortgage , participation loan
b. : something that results in a share (as of a distribution) — compare participating 2