A relationship between things or parts of things with respect to comparative magnitude, quantity, or degree: the proper proportion between oil and vinegar in the dressing.
A relationship between quantities such that if one varies then another varies in a manner dependent on the first: "We do not always find visible happiness in proportion to visible virtue"(Samuel Johnson).
Agreeable or harmonious relation of parts within a whole; balance or symmetry.
Dimensions; size. Often used in the plural.
Mathematics A statement of equality between two ratios. Four quantities, a, b, c, d, are said to be in proportion if a/b = c/d .
To adjust so that proper relations between parts are attained.
To form the parts of with balance or symmetry.
[Middle English proporcion, from Old French proportion, from Latin prōportiō, prōportiōn-, from prō portiōne, according to (each) part : prō, according to; see pro-1 + portiōne, ablative of portiō, part; see perə-2 in Indo-European roots.] pro·por'tion·a·ble adj., pro·por'tion·a·bly adv., pro·por'tion·er n., pro·por'tion·ment n.
Synonyms: These nouns mean aesthetic arrangement marked by proper distribution of elements. Proportion is the agreeable relation of parts within a whole: a house with rooms of gracious proportion. Harmony is the pleasing interaction or appropriate combination of elements: the harmony of your facial features. Symmetry and balance both imply an arrangement of parts on either side of a dividing line, but symmetry frequently emphasizes mirror-image correspondence of parts, while balance often suggests dissimilar parts that offset each other harmoniously: flowers planted in perfect symmetry around the pool."In all perfectly beautiful objects, there is found the opposition of one part to another, and a reciprocal balance" (John Ruskin).
[pruh-pawr-shuh
n-muh