proporcional

Forms

proporcional m or f (masculine and feminine plural proporcionales)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin prōportiōnālis (“of proportion”).^[2][3] Wiktionary analyses it as proporción with the suffix -al.^[1] Corominas lists it among the words of the family of porción and dates it 1555, from Laguna.^[4][5]

The Latin adjective is a post-classical derivative of prōportiō (“proportion”).^[3] The OLD takes this noun as a back-formation from the phrase pro portione (“in proportion”), and Corominas likewise as a contraction of it, from portiō (“share, part”).^[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH and the DPCAX antedate Corominas by three centuries: Alfonso X's Judizios de las estrellas (1254–1260) uses parte proporcional in an astrological passage on the thirty degrees between the twelfth house and the ascendant, which have no proportional part in the 360 degrees of the sky.^[7][8] The sense is “belonging to proportion”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century the word appears in medical and arithmetical texts: Mose Arragel speaks of a manera proporçional de arismetica (c. 1422–1433), and Nebrija's dictionary of about 1495 has rata parte proporcional.^[7] Autoridades (1737) defined it as what belongs to or contains proportion, with the geometrical términos proporcionales.^[9] Terreros recorded the arithmetical phrase medio proporcional.^[10] The Academy added in 1899 the grammatical sense of numerals such as doble and triple.^[11] In the Americas the word is first recorded in an arithmetical text of Santo Domingo of 1763.^[12]

Timeline

• 1254–1260 – first record, parte proporcional, in Alfonso X's Judizios de las estrellas.^[7][8]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija's Spanish–Latin vocabulary has rata parte proporcional.^[7]
• 1555 – date of first record given by Corominas, from Laguna.^[4][5]
• 1737 – Autoridades defines it with the geometrical términos proporcionales.^[9]
• 1763 – first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[12]
• 1899 – the Academy adds the grammatical sense of numerals such as doble.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to proportion (proporción).^[2][1]
2. Having proportion or keeping to it: Cada socio recibió una parte proporcional de las ganancias.^[2][13]
3. (mathematics) Of a quantity or magnitude: keeping a constant ratio to another; proportional.^[2][13]
4. (grammar) Of a numeral noun or adjective: expressing how many times one quantity contains a smaller one, as doble or triple.^[2]

Word family

• proporcionalidad

Related words

• proporción
• porción
• Latin prōportiōnālis

Usage notes

Set phrases include media proporcional in mathematics and reparto proporcional.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. proporcional
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 613
5. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. porción
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. prōportiō
7. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. proporcional
8. ^ a b c Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. proporcional
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 406
10. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 3, 228
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 818
12. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. proporcional
13. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. proporcional