proportion

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proportion

/pɹəˈpɔɹʃən/ US
/pɹəˈpɔːʃən/ UK
/pɹəˈpo(ː)ɹʃən/
/pɹəˈpoəʃən/

Rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)ʃən

Where it comes from

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. By surface analysis, pro- + portion.

noun proportions · purportion

countable A quantity of something that is part of the whole amount or number. “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. Let the women[…]do the same things in their proportions and capacities.
countable, uncountable 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
countable A statement of equality between two ratios.
archaic, countable, uncountable The "rule of three", in which three terms are given to find a fourth.
countable, in plural Size. 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 t

verb proportions · proportioning · proportioned · purportion

transitive To divide into proper shares; to apportion. 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 varyin
transitive To form symmetrically.
transitive To set or render in proportion.
archaic, transitive To correspond to.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: proportionality, balance, dimension, symmetry, proportionate, commensurate, comparison, total, amount, relation, relationship, fraction, presence, quota, composition, apportionment

Translations

Every language

noun quantity that is part of the whole

Español	proporción
한국어	비례 birye
日本語	割合 wariai, 比例 hirei
中文	比例 bǐlì
Português	proporção
Français	proportion
Deutsch	Teil, Proportion
Italiano	proporzione
Ελληνικά	αναλογία analogía
Русский	пропо́рция propórcija
Tiếng Việt	tỉ lệ

noun proper or equal share

Deutsch	Anteil

verb to set or render in proportion

Português	proporcionar

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MLA

"proportion." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/proportion. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

proportion. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/proportion

Chicago

"proportion." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/proportion.

BibTeX

@misc{proportion_2026,
  title = {proportion},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/proportion},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}