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Proportion
Definitions
- 1 A quantity of something that is part of the whole amount or number. countable
"“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,[…]!”"
- 2 harmonious arrangement or relation of parts or elements within a whole (as in a design) wordnet
- 3 Harmonious relation of parts to each other or to the whole. uncountable
- 4 magnitude or extent wordnet
- 5 Proper or equal share. countable
"Let the women[…]do the same things in their proportions and capacities."
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- 6 the relation between things (or parts of things) with respect to their comparative quantity, magnitude, or degree wordnet
- 7 The relation of one part to another or to the whole with respect to magnitude, quantity, or degree. countable, uncountable
"the proportion of the parts of a building, or of the body"
- 8 the quotient obtained when the magnitude of a part is divided by the magnitude of the whole wordnet
- 9 A statement of equality between two ratios. countable
- 10 balance among the parts of something wordnet
- 11 The "rule of three", in which three terms are given to find a fourth. archaic, countable, uncountable
- 12 Size. countable, in-plural
"The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;[…]. Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold."
- 1 To divide into proper shares; to apportion. transitive
"In order to proportion the braking force to the weight carried by a wheel - a matter of special importance in the braking of wagons - variable leverage systems are now being introduced in which the end of one axle spring is linked to a control spring in the change-over valve, so automatically varying the leverage exerted by the brake-rod according to whether the wagon is full or empty."
- 2 adjust in size relative to other things wordnet
- 3 To form symmetrically. transitive
- 4 give pleasant proportions to wordnet
- 5 To set or render in proportion. transitive
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- 6 To correspond to. archaic, transitive
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.
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.
See also for "proportion"
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