proportion

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See also: Proportion

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)

  1. (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, []!”
  2. (uncountable) Harmonious relation of parts to each other or to the whole.
  3. (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.
  4. 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
  5. (mathematics, countable) A statement of equality between two ratios.
  6. (mathematics, archaic) The "rule of three", in which three terms are given to find a fourth.
  7. (countable, chiefly in the plural) Size.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

proportion (third-person singular simple present proportions, present participle proportioning, simple past and past participle proportioned)

  1. (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.
  2. (transitive) To form symmetrically.
  3. (transitive, art) To set or render in proportion.
  4. (transitive, archaic) To correspond to.

Translations

Further reading

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French proportion, borrowed from Latin prōportiōnem.

Pronunciation

Noun

proportion f (plural proportions)

  1. proportion

Derived terms

References

Swedish

Noun

proportion c

  1. proportion

Declension

See also

References