portion
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See also: Portion
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English porcioun, borrowed from Old French porcion, from Latin portio (“a share, part, portion, relation, proportion”), akin to pars (“part”); see part. Compare proportion.
Pronunciation[edit]
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpɔɹʃən/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpɔːʃən/
- (Scotland, Ireland, other varieties without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA(key): /ˈpoəɹʃən/, /ˈpoːɹʃən/, /ˈpoɹʃən/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)ʃən
Noun[edit]
portion (plural portions)
- An allocated amount.
- That which is divided off or separated, as a part from a whole; a separated part of anything.
- One's fate; lot.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 12:46, columns 2–1:
- The Lord of that ſeruant […] will appoint him his portion with the vnbeleeuers.
- 1827, [John Keble], The Christian Year: Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays and Holydays throughout the Year, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [B]y W. Baxter, for J. Parker; and C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, […], →OCLC:
- Man's portion is to die and rise again.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 146:
- "Everywhere the same!" exclaimed Francesca, as she resumed her seat—"the same human misery—the same human portion!...
- The part of an estate given or falling to a child or heir; an inheritance.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 15:12, column 1:
- Father, giue me the portion of goods that falleth to me.
- A wife's fortune; a dowry.
- 1613–1614 (date written), John Fletcher; William Shak[e]speare, The Two Noble Kinsmen: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Waterson; […], published 1634, →OCLC, Act V, scene iv, page 85:
- Commend me to her, and to piece her portion / Tender her this.
- 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput):
- I took part of a small house in the Old Jewry; and being advised to alter my condition, I married Mrs. Mary Burton, second daughter to Mr. Edmund Burton, hosier, in Newgate-street, with whom I received four hundred pounds for a portion.
Usage notes[edit]
Relatively formal, compared to the more informal part or more concrete and casual piece. For example, “part of the money” (both informal) but “portion of the proceeds” (both formal).
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
allocated amount
|
separated part of anything
one's fate — See also translations at fate
part of an estate given or falling to a child or heir
|
wife's fortune — see dowry
Verb[edit]
portion (third-person singular simple present portions, present participle portioning, simple past and past participle portioned)
- (transitive) To divide into amounts, as for allocation to specific purposes.
- (transitive) To endow with a portion or inheritance.
- 1733, Alexander Pope, Epistle to Bathurst:
- Him portioned maids, apprenticed orphans, blest.
Usage notes[edit]
- Particularly used as portion out.
- Relatively formal, compared to the more informal divide, divide up, or the casual divvy, divvy up.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to divide into amounts
Further reading[edit]
- “portion”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “portion”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Latin portionem (accusative singular of portio).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
portion f (plural portions)
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
- → Turkish: porsiyon
Further reading[edit]
- “portion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams[edit]
Interlingua[edit]
Noun[edit]
portion (plural portiones)
Swedish[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (file)
Noun[edit]
portion c
Declension[edit]
Declension of portion | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | portion | portionen | portioner | portionerna |
Genitive | portions | portionens | portioners | portionernas |
Related terms[edit]
Yola[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English porcioun, from Old French porcion, from Latin portio.
Noun[edit]
portion
- part
- 1867, “THE BRIDE'S PORTION”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:
- A portion ich gae her, was (it's now ich have ee-tolth)
- The portion I gave her was (it's now I have told)
- dowry
- 2005, Brief List of Familiar Things:
- A portion ich gae her was keow an dwanty shilleen.
- The dowry I gave her was a cow and twenty shillings.
References[edit]
- Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 102
- https://web.archive.org/web/20050222031415/http://homepage.tinet.ie/~taghmon/histsoc/vol3/chapter4/chapter4.htm
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *per- (sell)
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)ʃən
- Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)ʃən/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- French terms borrowed from Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French feminine nouns
- Interlingua lemmas
- Interlingua nouns
- Swedish terms with audio links
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- Yola terms inherited from Middle English
- Yola terms derived from Middle English
- Yola terms derived from Old French
- Yola terms derived from Latin
- Yola lemmas
- Yola nouns
- Yola terms with quotations