portion

English

Etymology

From Middle English porcioun, from Old French porcion, from Latin portio (“a share, part, portion, relation, proportion”), akin to pars (“part”); see part. Compare proportion.

Pronunciation

Noun

portion (plural portions)

An allocated amount.

Usage notes

Relatively formal, compared to the more informal part or more concrete and casual piece. For example, “part of the money” (both informal) but “portion of the proceeds” (both formal).

Synonyms

part
piece

Derived terms

Translations

allocated amount

Arabic: جزء (ar) (júzu’) m
Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
Catalan: porció (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 一部分 (cmn) (yībùfèn), 部分 (cmn) (bùfen)
Dutch: deel (nl) n, portie (nl) f
Finnish: annos (fi), osuus (fi), osa (fi)
French: part (fr) f, portion (fr) f
Georgian: ნაწილი (ka) (nacili), წილი (ka) (cili), პორცია (ka) (porc'ia), ულუფა (ka) (ulup'a)
German: Teil (de) m
Hungarian: adag (hu)
Italian: porzione (it) f

Japanese: 部分 (ja) (ぶぶん, bubun)
Korean: 일부 (ko) (ilbu) (一部 (ko))
Kurdish:
Sorani: به‌ش (ku)
Polish: porcja f
Portuguese: porção (pt) f
Romanian: porțiune (ro) f, bucată (ro) f, porție (ro) f, fragment (ro) n, cotă-parte (ro) f
Russian: доля (ru) (dólja) f, порция (ru) (pórcija) f, часть (ru) (čast’) f
Scottish Gaelic: cuid (gd) f
Spanish: porción (es) f, ración (es) f
Swedish: portion (sv) c
Turkish: pay (tr), hisse (tr)
Vietnamese: phần (vi) (分 (vi))

Verb

portion (third-person singular simple present portions, present participle portioning, simple past and past participle portioned)

(transitive) To divide into amounts, as for allocation to specific purposes.
(transitive) To endow with a portion or inheritance.
Him portioned maids, apprenticed orphans, blest. — Alexander Pope.