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Definition of portion - 5 dictionary results
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por⋅tion

  [pawr-shuhn, pohr-]
Use portion in a Sentence
–noun
1. a part of any whole, either separated from or integrated with it: I read a portion of the manuscript.
2. an amount of food served for one person; serving; helping: He took a large portion of spinach.
3. the part of a whole allotted to or belonging to a person or group; share.
4. the part of an estate that goes to an heir or a next of kin.
5. Literary. something that is allotted to a person by God or fate.
6. (esp. formerly) the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband at marriage; dowry.
–verb (used with object)
7. to divide into or distribute in portions or shares (often fol. by out).
8. to furnish with a portion, as with an inheritance or a dowry: All of his children have been amply portioned.
9. to provide with a lot or fate: She was portioned with sorrow throughout her life.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME porcion < OF < L portiōn- (s. of portiō) share, part, akin to pars part

Related forms:
por⋅tion⋅a⋅ble, adjective
por⋅tion⋅less, adjective

Synonyms:
1. section, segment. See part. 2. ration. 3. allotment, quota, lot, dividend. 4. inheritance. 5. fortune, lot, destiny, doom. 7. allot, apportion. 8. endow.

Antonyms:
1. whole.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To portion
por·tion   (pôr'shən, pōr'-)   
n.  
  1. A section or quantity within a larger thing; a part of a whole.
  2. A part separated from a whole.
  3. A part that is allotted to a person or group, as:
    1. A helping of food.
    2. The part of an estate received by an heir.
    3. A woman's dowry.
  4. A person's lot or fate.
tr.v.   por·tioned, por·tion·ing, por·tions
  1. To divide into parts or shares for distribution; parcel.
  2. To provide with a share, inheritance, or dowry.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin portiō, portiōn-; see perə-2 in Indo-European roots.]
por'tion·a·ble adj., por'tion·er n., por'tion·less adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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

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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : portion
Spanish: parte,
German: der Teil,
Japanese: 部分
More Translations »

portion 
c.1300, from O.Fr. porcion (12c.), 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). The verb meaning "to divide in portions" is recorded from c.1330.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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