proportion
Americannoun
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proportions
plural
-
comparative relation between things or magnitudes as to size, quantity, number, etc.; ratio.
- Synonyms:
- comparison
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proper relation between things or parts.
to have tastes way out of proportion to one's financial means.
-
relative size or extent.
-
proportions, dimensions or size.
a rock of gigantic proportions.
-
a portion or part in its relation to the whole.
A large proportion of the debt remains.
- Synonyms:
- share
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symmetry, harmony, or balance.
an architect with a sense of proportion.
- Synonyms:
- arrangement, distribution
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the significance of a thing or event that an objective view reveals.
You must try to see these mishaps in proportion.
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Mathematics. a relation of four quantities such that the first divided by the second is equal to the third divided by the fourth; the equality of ratios.
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Archaic. analogy; comparison.
noun
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the relationship between different things or parts with respect to comparative size, number, or degree; relative magnitude or extent; ratio
-
the correct or desirable relationship between parts of a whole; balance or symmetry
-
a part considered with respect to the whole
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(plural) dimensions or size
a building of vast proportions
-
a share, part, or quota
-
maths a relationship that maintains a constant ratio between two variable quantities
x increases in direct proportion to y
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maths a relationship between four numbers or quantities in which the ratio of the first pair equals the ratio of the second pair
verb
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to adjust in relative amount, size, etc
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to cause to be harmonious in relationship of parts
Synonym Usage
See symmetry.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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misproportionnoun
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proportionabilitynoun
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proportionernoun
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proportionmentnoun
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superproportionnoun
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reproportionverb (used with object)
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proportionableadjective
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proportionlessadjective
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proportionablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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proportionsimple
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proportionssimple
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have proportionedperfect
-
has proportionedperfect
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am proportioningprogressive
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are proportioningprogressive
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is proportioningprogressive
-
have been proportioningperfect progressive
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has been proportioningperfect progressive
Past
-
proportionedsimple
-
had proportionedperfect
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was proportioningprogressive
-
were proportioningprogressive
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had been proportioningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of proportion
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English proporcio(u)n from Latin prōportiōn-, stem of prōportiō “symmetry, analogy”; equivalent to pro- 1 + portion
Explanation
Proportion is about balance and how things fit together harmoniously. For example "That hound dog's tiny legs look out of proportion to that big fat body." The prefix comes from the Latin pro meaning "on behalf of, for." If you're Proportion likes portions, and for them to be the right size. The cake's sweetness is in direct proportion to how much sugar you put in. It's a compliment to tell someone he or she has just the right proportions, but you might get slapped. It can also be a part of something, as in a significant proportion of our student body has dyed their hair purple.
Vocabulary lists containing proportion
"Fears and Phobias," Vocabulary from the article
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On Your Mark, Get Set, Commence Your Life!
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The Articles of Confederation (1777)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Overall, the participation rate—the proportion of the working-age population who were either employed or unemployed—edged up 0.1 point to 65.1%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
And yet, for the third week in a row, the proportion of bears was greater than that of bulls.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
The pickup comes as a higher proportion of people searching for work have been landing jobs compared with last year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Large Urban Areas had the highest proportion of student attaining grades A to C at National 5 levels with 80.3%, while Remote Small Towns had the lowest at 71.6%.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
My stepbrother is a different sort of small than I was at his age—the neat and tidy sort, no elbows or ears jutting out, everything in proportion.
From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven
After about a month and a half, the harassment ended when he was interviewed by Scott Simon on NPR’s Weekend Edition, which expanded his digital presence to national proportions.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
The 2022 Ofcom survey recorded statistics of people who loudcast by ethnicity, and it found higher proportions of people from non-white backgrounds said they watched videos in public without headphones.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Their stretched proportions reminded the scientists of Luffy's rubber body, which allows the fictional character to freely extend and enlarge his limbs.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
That’s not diplomatic isolation; it’s a triumph of historic proportions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Understanding nature was as simple as understanding the mathematics of proportions.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
He’s a ridiculously proportioned savant who dribbles like a point guard, blocks shots like a center and puts up stat lines matched only by Hall-of-Famers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
And then there are the paintings and canvases, too small and oddly proportioned compared to the wall.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2025
A classically proportioned drama about the building of the American West, mostly seen from the eyes of one logger, that approaches the quiet grandeur of a Terrence Malick movie?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025
Rick Owens mixed gothic elements with a touch of the bizarre, featuring oversized rubber boots that Owens himself described as outlandishly proportioned.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 21, 2024
Two and a half stories it stood, gracefully proportioned, with leaded glass windows and clapboards weathered to a silvery gray.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
If you were of the Larkin persuasion – that it was all downhill from Charlie Parker onwards – the proportioning might have been music to your ears.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 6, 2014
In the 1924 election they were mystified by the so-called scrutin de liste, a well meant but inexplicable procedure which was supposed to ensure by mathematical proportioning a greater representation of minority groups in Parliament.
From Time Magazine Archive
Reason, by the loss of innocence reduced to its natural nakedness, is just beginning to discover the world; and God is sparing in His demands, proportioning them to human experience .
From Time Magazine Archive
Moreover, he possessed as a birthright that ultimate skepticism which is the proportioning power of true wisdom.
From Time Magazine Archive
The student should also note any rules which he may meet with for proportioning machines, taking care, however, in each case to state the source of such information for his future guidance and reference.
From An Introduction to Machine Drawing and Design by Low, David Allan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
