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portion

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈpɔː.ʃən/, US /ˈpɔːr.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English porcioun, borrowed from Old French porcion (“part, portion”),[2][3] and directly from Latin portiō (“share, part”),[2][3][4] a noun that was at first found only in the phrase prō portiōne “according to the relation of parts to each other”,[3][5][6] probably from *partiō “division”, related to pars “part”,[2][4] from Proto-Indo-European *pere- (“to grant, allot”).[2] It is related to proportion, part and apportion.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The part of something allotted to one person, a share: before 1300 in the OED,[7] before 1325 in Barnhart, in Cursor Mundi,[3] the early 14th century in Etymonline,[2] where it also meant one's lot or fate.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

A part of any whole, not necessarily allotted, is from 1340, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.[7][2] An heir's share of an estate is from before 1340,[7] and a dowry or marriage portion from 1511.[7] A helping of food enough for one person is from 1484.[7] The verb, to divide into shares, is from before 1338, in Mannyng,[3] and the sense “to give a dowry” is from 1712.[7]

Timeline

  • a. 1300 – a share.[7]
  • a. 1325 – one's lot or fate.[7]
  • a. 1338 – verb, to divide into shares.[3]
  • 1340 – a part of a whole.[7]
  • 1484 – a helping of food.[7]
  • 1511 – a dowry.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A part of something larger.
  2. An amount of food for one person; a helping.
  3. A share given to a person or group.
  4. (archaic) A dowry, or the part of an estate an heir receives.
  5. (literary) One's lot or fate.

Verb

  1. To divide into parts or shares; to apportion.

Word family

  • portionable
  • portioner
  • portionless
  • preportion
  • reportion
  • proportion
  • part
  • apportion

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press