to play a part
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
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.
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.