portion

[pawr-shuhn, pohr-]

noun

1. a part of any whole, either separated from or integrated with it.

   I read a portion of the manuscript.

   Synonyms: segment, section
   Antonyms: whole

2. an amount of food served for one person; serving; helping.

   He took a large portion of spinach.

   Synonyms: ration

3. the part of a whole allotted to or belonging to a person or group; share.

   Synonyms: dividend, lot, quota, allotment

4. the part of an estate that goes to an heir or a next of kin.

   Synonyms: inheritance

5. Literary.,  something that is allotted to a person by God or fate.

   Synonyms: doom, destiny, lot, fortune

6. (especially formerly) the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband at marriage; dowry.

verb (used with object)

1. to divide into or distribute in portions or shares (often followed byout ).

   Synonyms: apportion, allot

2. to furnish with a portion, as with an inheritance or a dowry.

   All of his children have been amply portioned.

   Synonyms: endow

3. to provide with a lot or fate.

   She was portioned with sorrow throughout her life.

portion

/ ˈpɔːʃən /

noun

1. a part of a whole; fraction

2. a part allotted or belonging to a person or group

3. an amount of food served to one person; helping

4. law

   1. a share of property, esp one coming to a child from the estate of his parents

   2. the property given by a woman to her husband at marriage; dowry

5. a person's lot or destiny

verb

1. to divide up; share out

2. to give a share to (a person); assign or allocate

3. law to give a dowry or portion to (a person); endow

Other Word Forms

• portionable adjective
• portionless adjective
• reportion verb (used with object)
• unportionable adjective
• unportioned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of portion¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English porcion, from Old French, from Latin portiōn- (stem of portiō ) “share, part,” akin to pars part

Word History and Origins

Origin of portion¹

C13: via Old French from Latin portiō portion, allocation; related to pars _part

Synonym Study

See part.

Example Sentences

Enchanted with Lenox, Mass., and the rustic charm of the Berkshires, they bought a large portion of the historic Wheatleigh estate.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

These values indicate that only a small portion of the total contaminants actually leaches out under conditions mimicking oral contact.

Read more on Science Daily

From the 1960s through the late ’90s, spurred by the ready availability of cheap, calorie-dense food—engineered to be irresistible and offered in ever-larger portions—adult obesity rates in the U.S. more than doubled.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That threshold is frozen and highly likely to be breached by the state pension from April 2027, meaning the portion of pension income over this threshold would be taxed.

Read more on BBC

To that end, higher earners may choose to route more than just catch-up portions to Roth accounts.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• allocation 
• chunk 
• excerpt 
• fraction 
• fragment 
• lot 
• part 
• piece 
• quantity 
• section 
• segment 
• serving