proportion

[ pruh-pawr-shuhn, -pohr- ]

/ prəˈpɔr ʃən, -ˈpoʊr- /

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See synonyms for: proportion / proportioned / proportioning / proportions on Thesaurus.com

noun

comparative relation between things or magnitudes as to size, quantity, number, etc.; ratio.

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.

symmetry, harmony, or balance: an architect with a sense of proportion.

the significance of a thing or event that an objective view reveals: You must try to see these mishaps in proportion.

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.Compare rule of three.

Archaic. analogy; comparison.

verb (used with object)

to adjust in proper proportion or relation, as to size, quantity, etc.

to balance or harmonize the proportions of.

OTHER WORDS FOR proportion

1 comparison.

5 share.

6 distribution, arrangement.

10 regulate, arrange, balance, harmonize.

See synonyms for proportion on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of proportion

1350–1400; Middle English proporcio(u)n from Latin prōportiōn- (stem of prōportiō ) “symmetry, analogy.” See pro-¹, portion

synonym study for proportion

6. See symmetry.

OTHER WORDS FROM proportion

pro·por·tion·er, nounpro·por·tion·less, adjectivemis·pro·por·tion, nounre·pro·por·tion, verb (used with object)

su·per·pro·por·tion, noun

Words nearby proportion

propman, propolis, propone, proponent, Propontis, proportion, proportionable, proportional, proportional counter, proportional font, proportionality

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use proportion in a sentence

The proportion of people who, after landing on your app marketplace snippet clicks to go into the product page, is expressed in percentage, and it is called the conversion rate.
App store optimization success: Top five KPIs you must measure|Juned Ghanchi|August 28, 2020|Search Engine Watch
These integrals take on monstrous proportions in multi-loop Feynman diagrams, which come into play as researchers march down the line and fold in more complicated virtual interactions.
The Mathematical Structure of Particle Collisions Comes Into View|Charlie Wood|August 20, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Rates of testing, he said, were lower in poorer areas and areas with higher proportions of residents who are racial minorities.
Which Cities Have The Biggest Racial Gaps In COVID-19 Testing Access?|Soo Rin Kim|July 22, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
Epidemiologists look to the percent-positive rate, or the proportion of positive tests relative to total tests done, to distinguish between these two possibilities.
The U.S. largely wasted time bought by COVID-19 lockdowns. Now what?|Jonathan Lambert|July 1, 2020|Science News

The 2019 Climate Equity Index Report found that cost burdens of basic needs, including energy, transportation and housing, are much higher in communities with a higher proportion of people of color.
It’s Time to Revisit This Garbage City Policy|Joe Bettles, Marianna Garcia, Elise Hanson, Jack Christensen and Aurora Livingston|June 25, 2020|Voice of San Diego
Idiocies multiply in direct proportion to the accumulating legal rigidities.
Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans|Philip K. Howard|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But it was still one in which the male property owners had a vote, which was a small proportion of the population.
Napoleon Was a Dynamite Dictator|J.P. O’Malley|November 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
You spend an excessive proportion of your income on “pure” foods.
Orthorexia: When Healthy Eating Becomes an Obsession|DailyBurn|October 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“The fears in epidemic proportion and they need to be calmed down,” he says.
New York Nurses Are the Calm in Ebola’s Storm|Abby Haglage|October 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“A relatively small proportion of men are responsible for a large number of rapes,” the 2002 study notes.
The Math That Keeps Helping College Rapists|Michael Daly|October 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If now we turn to the higher aspects of form, such as symmetry and proportion, we encounter a difficulty.
Children's Ways|James Sully
A considerable proportion of the industrial and commercial news is now written to an end.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
The fact is, that the proportion of white men in the French Division is low; there are too many Senegalese.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
You engaged to produce your fair proportion of capital; you have given nothing.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
When the features begin to be represented by something more like a form we find in most cases a curious want of proportion.
Children's Ways|James Sully

British Dictionary definitions for proportion

proportion

/ (prəˈpɔːʃən) /

noun

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

(plural) dimensions or sizea building of vast proportions

a share, part, or quota

maths a relationship that maintains a constant ratio between two variable quantitiesx increases in direct proportion to y

maths a relationship between four numbers or quantities in which the ratio of the first pair equals the ratio of the second pair

verb (tr)

to adjust in relative amount, size, etc

to cause to be harmonious in relationship of parts

Derived forms of proportion

proportionable, adjectiveproportionability, nounproportionably, adverbproportionment, noun

Word Origin for proportion

C14: from Latin prōportiō (a translation of Greek analogia), from phrase prō portione, literally: for (its, his, one's) portion

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for proportion

proportion

[ prə-pôr′shən ]

A statement of equality between two ratios. Four quantities, a, b, c, and d, are said to be in proportion if ab = cd.

Other Idioms and Phrases with proportion

proportion

see out of proportion.

proportion

OTHER WORDS FOR proportion

Origin of proportion

synonym study for proportion

OTHER WORDS FROM proportion

Words nearby proportion

Words related to proportion

How to use proportion in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for proportion

Derived forms of proportion

Word Origin for proportion

Scientific definitions for proportion

Other Idioms and Phrases with proportion