participial Definition

participle
noun

1. grammar.
A word formed from a verb, which has adjectival qualities as well as verbal ones. There are two participles in English, the present participle, formed with the ending -ing, as in going, swimming or shouting, and the past participle, generally ending in -d, -ed, -t or -n, as in chased, shouted, kept and shown, but also with irregular forms such as gone, swum, etc. In English, present participles are used with the auxiliary verb be to form the progressive tenses (as in I am going and she was singing), and past participles are used with the auxiliary verb have to form the perfect tenses (as in he has gone and they had left), and with be to form passive constructions (as in she was seen here yesterday). A participle may also be used as an adjective (as in a screaming child and a grown woman).

Derivative: participial
adj

Having the role of a participle.
Example: participial clause

Derivative: participially
adverb

Etymology: 14c: from Latin participium a sharing, from pars part + capere to take, because participles share features of both a verb and an adjective.