portion

1 of 2

noun

por·​tion ˈpȯr-shən 

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 

transitive verb

1

: to divide into portions : distribute

portioned out the food equally

2

: to allot a dowry to : dower

Synonyms

Noun

• circumstance
• destiny
• doom
• fate
• fortune
• kismet
• lot

Verb

• administer
• allocate
• apportion
• deal (out)
• dispense
• distribute
• dole out
• hand out
• mete (out)
• parcel (out)
• prorate

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

Large portions of the planes have to be deconstructed to check on corrosion and other aspects. —David Clarey, Journal Sentinel, 16 Apr. 2024

But researchers have noted that baby boomers who worked white-collar jobs and don’t see a need to slow down make up a much larger portion of that workforce than ever. —Alicia Adamczyk, Fortune, 16 Apr. 2024

This year’s selections bring the number of titles on the registry to 650 – a small portion of the national library’s recorded sound collection of nearly four million items. —Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2024

In Wohl’s opinion, an alternative would be to build mixed-use housing, a portion at market price and another at a price accessible to workers. —Verónica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 16 Apr. 2024

Similar to Detroit Lions games, the NFL will have weapon detectors installed that attendees must walk through at the gates of the event, which will take place at Cadillac Square, Campus Martius, Hart Plaza and a portion of Woodward Avenue. —Andrea May Sahouri, Detroit Free Press, 15 Apr. 2024

That’s half the portion of men who want to remarry. —Maggie Jones Gabra Zackman Krish Seenivasan Ted Blaisdell, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2024

Such a bomb—capable of destroying vast portions of the country—would dramatically alter Israel’s sense of security and instill a new sense of danger in the Middle East, already the world’s most volatile region. —Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2024

In the North Rim, leashed pets are only allowed on the Bridle Trail (Greenway) that connects the North Kaibab Trail and the portion of the Arizona Trail north to the park entrance station, park officials state. —Coleby Phillips, The Arizona Republic, 13 Apr. 2024

Verb

Freeze Vegetables How to defrost frozen food quickly and safely Ensure that frozen food is individually portioned and packaged to facilitate quick and precise defrosting. —Maryal Miller Carter, USA TODAY, 20 Mar. 2024

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

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

Phrases Containing portion

• pre-portion

Kids Definition

portion

1 of 2 noun

por·​tion ˈpōr-shən 

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 

: apportion