proportion
Etymology

From Middle English proporcion, from Old French proportion, from Latin prōportiō, from pro + portio; see portion.

Pronunciation
  • (America) IPA: /pɹəˈpɔɹʃən/
  • (RP) IPA: /pɹəˈpɔːʃən/
  • (rhotic, non-horse-hoarse) IPA: /pɹəˈpo(ː)ɹʃən/
  • (non-rhotic, non-horse-hoarse) IPA: /pɹəˈpoəʃən/
Noun

proportion

  1. (countable) A quantity of something that is part of the whole amount or number.
    • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] 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[emy] 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
    • 1563 March 30 (Gregorian calendar), John Foxe, Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous Dayes, […], London: […] Iohn Day, […], →OCLC ↗:
      The image of Christ made in Pilate's time after his own proportion.
    • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC ↗:
      Formed in the best proportions of her sex.
  5. (mathematics, countable) A statement of equality between two ratios.
  6. (math, archaic) The "rule of three", in which three terms are given to find a fourth.
  7. (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.
Translations Translations Verb

proportion (proportions, present participle proportioning; simple past and past participle proportioned)

  1. (transitive) To divide into proper shares; to apportion.
  2. (transitive) To form symmetrically.
  3. (transitive, arts) To set or render in proportion.
  4. (transitive, archaic) To correspond to.
Translations


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