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proportion. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
proportion, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
proportion in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English proporcion, from Old French proportion, from Latin prōportiō (“comparative relation, proportion, symmetry, analogy”), from pro (“for, before”) + portio (“share, part”); see portion.
Pronunciation
Noun
proportion (countable and uncountable, plural proportions)
- (countable) A quantity of something that is part of the whole amount or number.
1907 August, Robert W Chambers, chapter VI, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:“I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital, […]!”
- (uncountable) Harmonious relation of parts to each other or to the whole.
- (countable) Proper or equal share.
1651, Jer Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. , 2nd edition, London: Francis Ashe , →OCLC:Let the women […] do the same things in their proportions and capacities.
- The relation of one part to another or to the whole with respect to magnitude, quantity, or degree.
the proportion of the parts of a building, or of the body
- (mathematics, countable) A statement of equality between two ratios.
- (mathematics, archaic) The "rule of three", in which three terms are given to find a fourth.
- (countable, chiefly in the plural) Size.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; […] . Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.
Derived terms
Translations
quantity that is part of the whole
harmonious relation of parts to each other or to the whole
the relation of one part to another or to the whole with respect to magnitude, quantity, or degree
(mathematics) a statement of equality between two ratios
Verb
proportion (third-person singular simple present proportions, present participle proportioning, simple past and past participle proportioned)
- (transitive) To divide into proper shares; to apportion.
1960 April, “The braking of trains”, in Trains Illustrated, page 237:In order to proportion the braking force to the weight carried by a wheel - a matter of special importance in the braking of wagons - variable leverage systems are now being introduced in which the end of one axle spring is linked to a control spring in the change-over valve, so automatically varying the leverage exerted by the brake-rod according to whether the wagon is full or empty.
- (transitive) To form symmetrically.
- (transitive, art) To set or render in proportion.
- (transitive, archaic) To correspond to.
Translations
to set or render in proportion
Further reading
- “proportion”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “proportion”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
French
Etymology
Inherited from Old French proportion, borrowed from Latin prōportiōnem.
Pronunciation
Noun
proportion f (plural proportions)
- proportion
Derived terms
References
Swedish
Noun
proportion c
- proportion
Declension
See also
References