portion

1 of 2

noun

por·​tion ˈpȯr-shən How to pronounce portion (audio)
1
: an individual's part or share of something: such 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 of a whole

portion

2 of 2

verb

portioned; portioning ˈpȯr-sh(ə-)niŋ How to pronounce portion (audio)

transitive verb

1
: to divide into portions : distribute
portioned out the food equally
2
: to allot a dowry to : dower
Choose the Right Synonym for portion

part, portion, piece, member, division, section, segment, fragment mean something less than the whole.

part is a general term appropriate when indefiniteness is required.

they ran only part of the way

portion implies an assigned or allotted part.

cut the pie into six portions

piece applies to a separate or detached part of a whole.

a puzzle with 500 pieces

member suggests one of the functional units composing a body.

a structural member

division applies to a large or diversified part.

the manufacturing division of the company

section applies to a relatively small or uniform part.

the entertainment section of the newspaper

segment applies to a part separated or marked out by or as if by natural lines of cleavage.

the retired segment of the population

fragment applies to a part produced by or as if by breaking off.

only a fragment of the play still exists

fate, destiny, lot, portion, doom mean a predetermined state or end.

fate implies an inevitable and usually an adverse outcome.

the fate of the submarine is unknown

destiny implies something foreordained and often suggests a great or noble course or end.

the country's destiny to be a model of liberty to the world

lot and portion imply a distribution by fate or destiny, lot suggesting blind chance

it was her lot to die childless

, portion implying the apportioning of good and evil.

remorse was his daily portion

doom distinctly implies a grim or calamitous fate.

if the rebellion fails, his doom is certain

Examples of portion in a Sentence

Noun A portion of the donations will be given to the orphanage. Portions of land were used for farming. A considerable portion of the city was flooded. The restaurant gives large portions. She divided the pie into six equal portions. Verb The work was portioned to each member of the staff. portioned out the medical supplies equally
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
District 7 encompasses parts of downtown and the southwest portion of the city. Taylor Seely, The Arizona Republic, 23 Mar. 2024 The changes will keep part of the mall enclosed while returning some portions to open-air. Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 22 Mar. 2024 Despite using a smaller portion of the image circle, the zoom scores well through most of its range. PCMAG, 22 Mar. 2024 Missouri Republican lawmakers who represent portions of Jackson County have filed four constitutional amendments this year to require elections for the assessor in the Democratic-leaning county. Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024 As a former School Board Member and President, Rep. Miranda has a deep understanding of school funding, which is the largest portion of tax distribution for most property owners in Hamilton County, and how the unconstitutional formula impacts property taxes. Carl Weiser, The Enquirer, 21 Mar. 2024 According to recent statistics, commercial vehicle accidents constitute a significant portion of road traffic incidents in the United States. William Mullane, USA TODAY, 21 Mar. 2024 However, the way one of his new fundraising vehicles is arranged suggests a priority is also funneling money into a political action committee that has paid a significant portion of his ongoing legal bills. Soo Rin Kim, ABC News, 21 Mar. 2024 This is, of course, counter to conventional medical wisdom, which recommends people eat no more than three portions of red meat per week to reduce the risk of cardiovascular issues or colorectal cancer. Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 20 Mar. 2024
Verb
Beyond portioning ingredients, the festive set can be used as a candy station, cute catch-alls, and more. Gabriela Izquierdo, Southern Living, 30 Jan. 2024 Last October, the 2004 cult teen comedy Mean Girls was portioned into 23 parts to unanimous celebration. Jason Parham, WIRED, 5 Mar. 2024 From there, cookies are portioned out to Girl Scouts to deliver to their customers. Bill Chappell, NPR, 29 Feb. 2024 Use a bench scraper or a knife to portion the dough into 10 even (90-gram) pieces. Yewande Komolafe, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Feb. 2024 To make your dumplings, form the dough into a long sausage shape, then portion it into 15g dough balls. Erchen Chang, Vogue, 9 Feb. 2024 Once the dough is malleable, fold it a few times to soften, then portion it into twenty-eight 2½-teaspoon balls (about 16 grams each). Yi Jun Loh, Saveur, 8 Feb. 2024 Stop Making Sense is a masterful slow build, starting with Byrne alone on stage and then carefully portioning out bandmates and backup signers and dancers song by song, one at a time. Ars Staff, Ars Technica, 25 Dec. 2023 Black women simmered beans in pots all day with the least desirable cuts of meat — ham hocks, pigs feet, portions their captors thought beneath consumption — while they and their families were forced to labor in cane fields. Emiene Wright, Charlotte Observer, 4 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'portion.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English porcioun, porcion "part allotted to a person or institution, share, section into which a thing is divided, quantity", borrowed from Anglo-French porciun, porcioun, borrowed from Latin portiōn-, portiō "ratio, proportion, part, share" (earliest in the phrase prō portiōne "in the degree proper to each, proportionately"), probably by dissimilation from *prōrtiōne, by univerbation and syncope from prō ratiōne "in proportion" (with ratiō "reckoning, calculation, proportion") — more at pro- entry 2, reason entry 1

Note: If correct, this etymology represents the first of two univerbations with the preposition/prefix prō̆, the first with ratiōn- (whence *prō ratiōne > *prōratiōne > *prōrtiōne > portiōn-, portiō), the second with the newly formed noun portiō (whence prō portiōne > *prōportiōne > prōportiōn-, prōportiō—see proportion entry 1). Also suggested is derivation of portiō from partītiōn-, partītiō "sharing out, distribution, division of a speech" (see partition entry 1), assuming *prō partiōne reduced from *prō partītione; however, the noun partītiō is not attested before Cicero, while portiō is used already by Plautus.

Verb

Middle English portionen, porciounen "to divide into portions," borrowed from Anglo-French porcioner, borrowed from Medieval Latin portiōnāre, derivative of Latin portiōn-, portiō "ratio, proportion, part, share" — more at portion entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of portion was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near portion

Cite this Entry

“Portion.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/portion. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

portion

1 of 2 noun
por·​tion ˈpōr-shən How to pronounce portion (audio)
ˈpȯr-
1
a
: one's share of a whole
a portion of food
b
: dowry
2
: one's lot or fate
3
: a part of a whole

portion

2 of 2 verb
portioned; portioning -sh(ə-)niŋ How to pronounce portion (audio)

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