Portion PORTION, n. [L. portio, from partio, to divide, from pars,
part. See Part.] 1. In general, a part of any thing separated from
it. Hence, 2. A part, though not actually divided, but considered
by itself. These are parts of his ways, but how little a portion
is heard of him. Job 26. 3. A part assigned; an allotment; a
dividend. How small A portion to your share would fall.
The priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh. Gen 47. 4. The
part of an estate given to a child or heir, or descending to him by
law, and distributed to him in the settlement of the estate. 5. A
wife's fortune. PORTION, v.t. To divide; to parcel; to allot
a share or shares. And portion to his tribes the wide domain.
1. To endow. Him portion'd maids, apprentic'd orphans blest.
portion
n 1: something determined in relation to something that includes
it; "he wanted to feel a part of something bigger than
himself"; "I read a portion of the manuscript"; "the
smaller component is hard to reach"; "the animal
constituent of plankton" [syn: part, portion,
component part, component, constituent]
2: something less than the whole of a human artifact; "the rear
part of the house"; "glue the two parts together" [syn:
part, portion]
3: the allotment of some amount by dividing something; "death
gets more than its share of attention from theologians" [syn:
parcel, portion, share]
4: assets belonging to or due to or contributed by an individual
person or group; "he wanted his share in cash" [syn: share,
portion, part, percentage]
5: your overall circumstances or condition in life (including
everything that happens to you); "whatever my fortune may
be"; "deserved a better fate"; "has a happy lot"; "the luck
of the Irish"; "a victim of circumstances"; "success that was
her portion" [syn: fortune, destiny, fate, luck,
lot, circumstances, portion]
6: money or property brought by a woman to her husband at
marriage [syn: dowry, dowery, dower, portion]
7: an individual quantity of food or drink taken as part of a
meal; "the helpings were all small"; "his portion was larger
than hers"; "there's enough for two servings each" [syn:
helping, portion, serving]
v 1: give out; "We were assigned new uniforms" [syn: assign,
allot, portion]
portion
early 14c., from O.Fr. porcion, from L. portionem (nom. portio) "share,
part," accusative of the noun in the phrase pro portione "according to
the relation (of parts to each other)" (see proportion).
portion I. nounEtymology: Middle English porcioun, from Anglo-French,
from Latin portion-, portio; akin to Latin part-, pars part
Date: 14th century 1. an individual's part or share of
something: as
a. a share received by gift or inheritance b.dowryc. enough food especially of one kind to serve one person at one meal
2. an individual's lot, fate, or fortune ; one's share of
good and evil 3. an often limited part set off or abstracted from
a whole Synonyms:seepart, fateII. transitive verb (portioned; portioning)
Date: 14th century 1. to divide into portions ;distribute <portioned out the food equally> 2.
to allot a dowry to ;dower
portion n. & v. --n. 1 a part or share. 2 the amount of food allotted to one person. 3 a specified or limited quantity. 4 one's destiny or lot. 5 a dowry. --v.tr. 1 divide (a
thing) into portions. 2 (foll. by out) distribute. 3 give a dowry to. 4 (foll. by to) assign (a thing) to (a person). Derivatives: portionless adj. (in sense 5 of
n.). Etymology: ME f. OF porcion portion f. L portio -onis
portion
(portions)
1. A portion of something is a part of it.
Damage was confined to a small portion of the castle...I have spent a fairly considerable portion of my life here...I had learnt a portion of the Koran...= part
N-COUNT: N of n
2. A portion is the amount of food that is given to one person at a meal.
Desserts can be substituted by a portion of fresh fruit...The portions were generous.N-COUNT
portion
ˈpɔ:ʃən n. & v. --n. 1 a part or share. 2 the amount of food
allotted to one person. 3 a specified or limited quantity. 4 one's destiny
or lot. 5 a dowry. --v.tr. 1 divide (a thing) into portions. 2 (foll. by
out) distribute. 3 give a dowry to. 4 (foll. by to) assign (a thing) to (a
person). øøportionless adj. (in sense 5 of n.). [ME f. OF porcion portion
f. L portio -onis]
Portion \Por"tion\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Portioned; p. pr. &
vb. n. Portioning.]
1. To separate or divide into portions or shares; to parcel;
to distribute.
And portion to his tribes the wide domain. --Pope.
2. To endow with a portion or inheritance.
Him portioned maids, apprenticed orphans, blest.
--Pope.
Portion \Por"tion\, n. [F., from L. portio, akin to pars,
partis, a part. See Part, n.]
1. That which is divided off or separated, as a part from a
whole; a separated part of anything.
2. A part considered by itself, though not actually cut off
or separated from the whole.
These are parts of his ways; but how little a
portion is heard of him! --Job xxvi.
14.
Portions and parcels of the dreadful past.
--Tennyson.
3. A part assigned; allotment; share; fate.
The lord of that servant . . . will appoint him his
portion with the unbelievers. --Luke xii.
46.
Man's portion is to die and rise again. --Keble.
4. The part of an estate given to a child or heir, or
descending to him by law, and distributed to him in the
settlement of the estate; an inheritance.
Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.
--Luke xv. 12.
5. A wife's fortune; a dowry. --Shak.
Syn: Division; share; parcel; quantity; allotment; dividend.
Usage: Portion, Part. Part is generic, having a simple
reference to some whole. Portion has the additional
idea of such a division as bears reference to an
individual, or is allotted to some object; as, a
portion of one's time; a portion of Scripture.
portion
ˈpɔ:ʃən n.
1 segment, part, section, division, subdivision, parcel, piece, hunk, chunk, lump, wedge,
slice, sliver, fraction, fragment, bit, morsel, scrap: A portion of the masonry fell into the
street in the earthquake.
2 share, part, allotment, quota, ration, apportionment, allowance, allocation, assignment,
percentage, measure, division, quantity: The size of an investor's portion depends on the
amount invested.
3 helping, serving; ration, plate, platter: He complained that the portions in nouvelle
cuisine are too small. --v.
4 Often, portion out. apportion, share out, allocate, ration, allot, partition, assign,
consign, dole out, deal (out), parcel out, distribute, administer, dispense, disperse, divide,
split up, carve up, cut up, break up, section, Colloq divvy up: The conquered territories were
then portioned out among the victors.
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