# partisan

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpɑː.tɪˌzæn/ · frequency rank #9,507

## Definitions
1. An adherent to a party or faction.
2. A fervent, sometimes militant, supporter or proponent of a party, cause, faction, person, or idea.
3. A member of a band of detached light, irregular troops acting behind occupying enemy lines in the ways of harassment or sabotage; a guerrilla fighter.
4. The commander of a body of detached light troops engaged in making forays and harassing an enemy.

## Etymology
From French partisan, from Italian partigiano (“defender of a party”), from parte (“part”). Doublet of partigiano. Attested in English from the late 15th century in the noun sense of "party adherent", and in related adjective senses from the 16th century. The "guerrilla fighter" sense influenced by Serbo-Croatian partizan, Russian партиза́н (partizán), from the same source.
The sense of "guerrilla fighter" is from c. 1690.
The adjective in the military sense dates from the early 18th century.

## Easily confused with
- **Pattison** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/partisan-vs-pattison)
- **partial** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/partial-vs-partisan)
- **Parisian** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parisian-vs-partisan)
- **parmesan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parmesan-vs-partisan)

## Common misspellings (12)
`aprtisan`, `paritsan`, `parrtisan`, `partiasn`, `partisann`, `partisna`, `partissan`, `partsian`, `parttisan`, `patrisan`, `ppartisan`, `pratisan`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/partisan