Final answer:
A weak entity in a database depends on another entity for its existence. Partial participation means that not all entities of the weak entity type need to be associated with an entity of the strong entity type. An example could be the relationship between 'Course' and 'Section' in a university database.
Step-by-step explanation:
In a database, a weak entity is an entity that depends on another entity for its existence. Partial participation means that not all entities of the weak entity type may be associated with an entity of the strong entity type.
For example, let's consider a database for a university. The entity 'Course' could be a strong entity, and the entity 'Section' could be a weak entity because it depends on the 'Course' entity. Partial participation would mean that not all sections of a course have to be associated with a course, but at least one section must be associated with a course.