\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.
Note: 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.