to play a part
Preserved but no longer current.
To perform some duty or pursue some course of action; also, to act deceitfully. The phrase is from the stage, where an actor's part is the words or the character assigned to him.
thực hiện một nhiệm vụ hoặc hành động gian dối
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to play a part” mean?
To perform some duty or pursue some course of action; also, to act deceitfully. The phrase is from the stage, where an actor's part is the words or the character assigned to him.
Is “to play a part” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.