a social gathering
a birthday party
a group of people holding broadly similar views, organized to take part in politics
a group of people organized to carry out an activity or fulfil a function together
a search party
a person or group taking one side of a question, dispute, or contest
a person or group participating in a legal action or proceeding; a participant
the guilty party
informal a particular individual
[Middle English partie part, party, from Old French partie, from partir: see part2]