Adjacent Words

Portion definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

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. Genesis 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.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

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]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: 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. dowry c. 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: see part, fate II. 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

Oxford Reference Dictionary

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

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(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

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Part, piece, fragment, bit, scrap, morsel. 2. Share, allotment, division, parcel, lot, quantity, dividend, quota, contingent. 3. Fate, final state. 4. Dowry, wife's fortune. 5. Share, inheritance. II. v. a. 1. Divide, allot, deal out, distribute, parcel. 2. Endow, supply with a portion.

Moby Thesaurus

Friday, Friday the thirteenth, adjunct, administer, allocate, allocation, allot, allotment, allowance, amount, antepast, appanage, appointed lot, apportion, apportionment, assign, assignment, astral influences, astrology, bag, bang, batch, beverage, big end, bigger half, bit, bite, bolt, book of fate, booster, booster dose, booster shot, break up, budget, bumper, bunch, carve, carve up, chunk, circumstance, clutch, coil, commission, component, consign, constellation, contingent, count, course, cover, cross section, cup, cut, cut up, deal, deal out, deck, dessert, destination, destiny, detachment, detail, dies funestis, disburse, dish, dispense, disperse, dispose, distribute, district, divide, divide into shares, divide up, divide with, dividend, division, divvy, divvy up, dole, dole out, doom, dose, dot, dower, dowry, draft, dram, drench, drink, dropping, drug packet, end, endowment, entree, entremets, equal share, fatality, fate, fix, foredoom, fortune, foundation, fraction, fragment, future, give out, gob, group, gulp, guzzle, half, halver, heap, help, helping, hit, hunk, ides of March, inevitability, injection, installment, interest, investment, issue, item, jointure, kismet, lap, large amount, legal jointure, libation, lot, lump, mainlining, marriage portion, measure, measure out, meed, member, mess, mete, mete out, modicum, moiety, moira, morsel, narcotic shot, nip, number, overdose, pack, parcel, parcel out, part, particular, partition, pass around, pay out, peg, percentage, piece, place, planets, plate, platter, popping, portion out, potation, potion, proportion, prorate, pull, quadrant, quaff, quantity, quantum, quarter, quota, rake-off, random sample, ration, remainder, roll, run, sample, sampling, scrap, second helping, section, sector, segment, service, serving, settlement, share, share out, share with, shift, shot, sip, skin-popping, slice, slice the pie, slice up, sliver, slug, slurp, small amount, small share, snort, split, split up, spoon out, stake, stars, stock, strip, subdivide, subdivision, subgroup, subspecies, suck, sum, sup, swig, swill, thirds, tot, unlucky day, wedge, weird, wheel of fortune, will of Heaven, zone