What is the comparative relationship of one part to another with respect to size quantity or degree?

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[ pruh-pawr-shuhn, -pohr- ]

/ prəˈpɔr ʃən, -ˈpoʊr- /

This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.

noun

comparative relation between things or magnitudes as to size, quantity, number, etc.; ratio.

proper relation between things or parts: to have tastes way out of proportion to one's financial means.

relative size or extent.

proportions,dimensions or size: a rock of gigantic proportions.

a portion or part in its relation to the whole: A large proportion of the debt remains.

symmetry, harmony, or balance: an architect with a sense of proportion.

the significance of a thing or event that an objective view reveals: You must try to see these mishaps in proportion.

Mathematics. a relation of four quantities such that the first divided by the second is equal to the third divided by the fourth; the equality of ratios.Compare rule of three.

Archaic. analogy; comparison.

verb (used with object)

to adjust in proper proportion or relation, as to size, quantity, etc.

to balance or harmonize the proportions of.

Origin of proportion

1350–1400; Middle English proporcio(u)n from Latin prōportiōn- (stem of prōportiō ) “symmetry, analogy.” See pro-1, portion

synonym study for proportion

OTHER WORDS FROM proportion

pro·por·tion·er, nounpro·por·tion·less, adjectivemis·pro·por·tion, nounre·pro·por·tion, verb (used with object)

su·per·pro·por·tion, noun

Words related to proportion

bulk, capacity, dimension, distribution, fraction, magnitude, percentage, portion, rate, ratio, scale, scope, share, volume, amplitude, apportionment, breadth, cut, degree, division

How to use proportion in a sentence

• The proportion of people who, after landing on your app marketplace snippet clicks to go into the product page, is expressed in percentage, and it is called the conversion rate.

• These integrals take on monstrous proportions in multi-loop Feynman diagrams, which come into play as researchers march down the line and fold in more complicated virtual interactions.

• Rates of testing, he said, were lower in poorer areas and areas with higher proportions of residents who are racial minorities.

• Epidemiologists look to the percent-positive rate, or the proportion of positive tests relative to total tests done, to distinguish between these two possibilities.

• The 2019 Climate Equity Index Report found that cost burdens of basic needs, including energy, transportation and housing, are much higher in communities with a higher proportion of people of color.

• Idiocies multiply in direct proportion to the accumulating legal rigidities.

• But it was still one in which the male property owners had a vote, which was a small proportion of the population.

• You spend an excessive proportion of your income on “pure” foods.

• “The fears in epidemic proportion and they need to be calmed down,” he says.

• “A relatively small proportion of men are responsible for a large number of rapes,” the 2002 study notes.

• If now we turn to the higher aspects of form, such as symmetry and proportion, we encounter a difficulty.

• A considerable proportion of the industrial and commercial news is now written to an end.

• The fact is, that the proportion of white men in the French Division is low; there are too many Senegalese.

• You engaged to produce your fair proportion of capital; you have given nothing.

• When the features begin to be represented by something more like a form we find in most cases a curious want of proportion.

noun

the relationship between different things or parts with respect to comparative size, number, or degree; relative magnitude or extent; ratio

the correct or desirable relationship between parts of a whole; balance or symmetry

a part considered with respect to the whole

(plural)dimensions or sizea building of vast proportions

a share, part, or quota

maths a relationship that maintains a constant ratio between two variable quantitiesx increases in direct proportion to y

mathsa relationship between four numbers or quantities in which the ratio of the first pair equals the ratio of the second pair

verb (tr)

to adjust in relative amount, size, etc

to cause to be harmonious in relationship of parts

Derived forms of proportion

proportionable, adjectiveproportionability, nounproportionably, adverbproportionment, noun

Word Origin for proportion

C14: from Latin prōportiō (a translation of Greek analogia), from phrase prō portione, literally: for (its, his, one's) portion