portion
Americannoun
-
portions
plural
-
a part of any whole, either separated from or integrated with it.
I read a portion of the manuscript.
- Antonyms:
- whole
-
an amount of food served for one person; serving; helping.
He took a large portion of spinach.
- Synonyms:
- ration
-
the part of a whole allotted to or belonging to a person or group; share.
-
the part of an estate that goes to an heir or a next of kin.
- Synonyms:
- inheritance
-
Literary. something that is allotted to a person by God or fate.
-
(especially formerly) the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband at marriage; dowry.
verb (used with object)
-
portions,
present (3rd person singular)
-
portioned,
past participle, past
-
portioning
present participle
-
to divide into or distribute in portions or shares (often followed byout ).
-
to furnish with a portion, as with an inheritance or a dowry.
All of his children have been amply portioned.
- Synonyms:
- endow
-
to provide with a lot or fate.
She was portioned with sorrow throughout her life.
noun
-
a part of a whole; fraction
-
a part allotted or belonging to a person or group
-
an amount of food served to one person; helping
-
law
-
a share of property, esp one coming to a child from the estate of his parents
-
the property given by a woman to her husband at marriage; dowry
-
-
a person's lot or destiny
verb
-
to divide up; share out
-
to give a share to (a person); assign or allocate
-
law to give a dowry or portion to (a person); endow
Synonym Usage
See part.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
reportionverb (used with object)
-
portionableadjective
-
portionlessadjective
-
unportionableadjective
-
unportionedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
portionsimple
-
portionssimple
-
have portionedperfect
-
has portionedperfect
-
am portioningprogressive
-
are portioningprogressive
-
is portioningprogressive
-
have been portioningperfect progressive
-
has been portioningperfect progressive
Past
-
portionedsimple
-
had portionedperfect
-
was portioningprogressive
-
were portioningprogressive
-
had been portioningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of portion
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English porcion, from Old French, from Latin portiōn- (stem of portiō ) “share, part,” akin to pars part
Explanation
If a friend asks you to invest in her new start-up in exchange for a portion, or part, of the company’s profits, consider the agreement carefully. Remember, a portion of zero is still zero. Portion can also refer to the amount of food provided for each person at a meal. If you’re reviewing a restaurant, for example, you'll want to take note of the portion size. In addition, portion can be used as a verb meaning “divide and distribute something.” At birthday parties, we find it odd that the person celebrating her birthday is expected to perform the annoying task of portioning her own cake (perhaps it’s so she can claim the biggest portion).
Vocabulary lists containing portion
The ACT: The Language of the Test, List 1
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" (1863)
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Language of Standardized Tests, List 3
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
The Connecticut festival Westville Music Bowl on Wednesday published a statement from the composer-singer-multi-instrumentalist and former “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” bandleader announcing that he has canceled “a portion of my upcoming performance dates.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
For some time, a growing portion of Leicester City fans have been calling for King Power to sell the football club.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
The portion that families had to pay out of their own funds was $16,624 last year, while scholarships and grants covered 27% and borrowing accounted for 22%.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
He also rotated a meaningful portion of his gains into Japanese anime-based collectibles including One Piece and Pokémon trading cards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
The bank battle was an unpleasant interlude, but it didn’t interrupt what was becoming the key portion of most of Bobby’s days: reading.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Some funds define liquidity strictly to include only cash plus the undrawn portions of their credit facilities that are available to borrow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Trump was discussing changes he has made to the White House grounds, including replacing portions of the Rose Garden lawn with a stone patio, when the conversation turned to turf.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
Speaking generally, both said that while they could feasibly do portions of their jobs from afar, other parts, such as attending fundraising events, would be much more difficult.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Scientists must compare known fossils, determine how individual bones connected, and reconstruct missing portions using evidence from related animals.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
Mima serves him first and gives him the largest portions.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
It has tubs of brown butter, frozen flat or portioned into little pucks, ready to make a weeknight bowl of noodles taste as if someone planned better than you did.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
Fights with spouses or partners if meals aren’t portioned equally, or panic that a family member might eat the last of a favorite food — even though they’re able to go get more.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2024
The FMD is comprised of plant-based soups, energy bars, energy drinks, chip snacks, and tea portioned out for 5 days as well as a supplement providing high levels of minerals, vitamins, and essential fatty acids.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 20, 2024
Whether in whole baby leaf form or ready-chopped, frozen spinach is portioned into handy nuggets, meaning you can use specific amounts without waste.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2023
In no time at all they’d gathered back at the same spot, where Ben set out the ink, portioned into several small bowls.
From "Orphan Island" by Laurel Snyder
The precise portioning of the secret ingredients, matching the ratios of the founder’s original formula, happens in a room locked off from employees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2026
Police discovered the defendant had previously been employed as a "skilled butcher", and her work involved "deboning, and portioning out turkey carcasses using a large knife".
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026
China said it would be conducting live-fire drills on Tuesday, portioning out seven zones for the operations in the waters around Taiwan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 29, 2025
I’ve stood over sheet pans on Sunday afternoons, roasting broccoli until the kitchen smelled faintly of sulfur, portioning out tidy mounds of chicken and rice into identical little plastic containers.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2025
It appeared that Arsene LaComb had stayed in his little provision store until the last moment portioning out what was his with even hand, to each one as much as could be carried.
From The Shepherd of the North by Richard Aumerle Maher
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.
