portion
UK /ˈpɔːʃən/ · US /ˈpoɹʃən/ noun, verb
Forms portions portioning portioned
- noun An allocated amount.
- noun That which is divided off or separated, as a part from a whole; a separated part of anything.
- noun One's fate; lot.
- noun The part of an estate given or falling to a child or heir; an inheritance.
- noun A wife's fortune; a dowry.
- verb (transitive) To divide into amounts, as for allocation to specific purposes.
- verb (transitive) To endow with a portion or inheritance.
Synonyms
part piece bit chip chunk tranche clip crumb crumbling cutting flake fleak fragment hunk lump mammock ort piecemeal scrap scraplet component part component constituent parcel share percentage fortune destiny fate luck
Etymology
English portion From Middle English porcioun, borrowed from Old French porcion, accusative of Latin portiōnem (“a share, part, portion, relation, proportion”), from portiō, akin to pars (“part”); see part. Compare proportion.
Webster’s 1913
- noun That which is divided off or separated, as a part from a whole; a separated part of anything.
- noun A part considered by itself, though not actually cut off or separated from the whole.
- verb To separate or divide into portions or shares; to parcel; to distribute.
- verb To endow with a portion or inheritance.
Etymology [F., from L. portio, akin to pars, partis, a part. See Part, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “portion”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details