proportion

Definition

A quantity of something that is part of the whole amount or number.

Etymology

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.

Example Sentences

• "“I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital,[…]!”"
• "Let the women[…]do the same things in their proportions and capacities."
• "the proportion of the parts of a building, or of the body"