proportion

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A part of a whole, especially when compared to the rest.

   A large proportion of the students walk to school.

2. 2
   noun

   The relationship in size, amount, or degree between two or more things.

   The amount of sugar should be in proportion to the amount of flour.

3. 3
   noun

   The way the parts of something relate to each other in size, creating a pleasing balance.

   The new chair has beautiful proportions.

4. 4
   noun

   The size or extent of something, especially when large.

   The fire spread until it reached enormous proportions.

5. 5
   verb

   To adjust something so its parts are in correct relation to each other.

   The architect carefully proportioned the windows to the height of the walls.

Common collocations

• direct proportion Adjective + noun

From Middle English proporcion, from Old French proportion, from Latin prōportiō (“comparative relation, proportion, symmetry, analogy”), from pro (“for, before”) + portio (“share, part”); see portion.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images