different between measure vs proportion

English

Etymology

From Middle English mesure, from Old French mesure, from Latin m?ns?ra (“a measuring, rule, something to measure by”), from m?nsus, past participle of m?t?r? (“to measure, mete”). Displaced native Middle English m?te, mete (“measure”) (from Old English met (“measure”), compare Old English mitta (“a measure”)), Middle English ameten, imeten (“to measure”) (from Old English ?metan, ?emetan (“to mete, measure”)), Middle English hof, hoof (“measure, reason”) (from Old Norse h?f (“measure, reason”)), Old English m?þ (“measure, degree”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m???/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m???/
• (regional US) IPA^(key): /?me???/
• Rhymes: -???(?)
• Hyphenation: meas?ure; mea?sure

Noun

measure (plural measures)

1. A prescribed quantity or extent.
   1. (obsolete) Moderation, temperance. [13th-19th c.]
      • c. 1390, William Langland, Piers Plowman, I:

        Mesure is medcynee · þou? þow moche ?erne.

      • 1611, Bible, Authorized Version, Jer. XXX:

        I will correct thee in measure, and will not leaue thee altogether vnpunished.

   2. A limit that cannot be exceeded; a bound. (Now chiefly in set phrases.) [from 14th c.]
      • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, V:

        Full to the utmost measure of what bliss Human desires can seek or apprehend.

      • 2009, Mike Selvey, The Guardian, 25 Aug 2009:

        They have gloried to this day, the tedious interminable big-screen replays of that golden summer irritating beyond measure.

   3. An (unspecified) portion or quantity. [from 16th c.]
      • 2013, Daniel Taylor, Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban (in The Guardian, 6 September 2013)[1]:

        It ended up being a bittersweet night for England, full of goals to send the crowd home happy, buoyed by the news that Montenegro and Poland had drawn elsewhere in Group H but also with a measure of regret about what happened to Danny Welbeck and what it means for Roy Hodgson's team going into a much more difficult assignment against Ukraine.

2. The act or result of measuring.
   1. (now chiefly cooking) A receptacle or vessel of a standard size, capacity etc. as used to deal out specific quantities of some substance. [from 14th c.]

   2. A standard against which something can be judged; a criterion. [from 14th c.]

   3. Any of various standard units of capacity. [from 14th c.]

   4. A unit of measurement. [from 14th c.]
      • 1993, Scientific American February 33.3:

        The fragments shrank by increments of about three kilodaltons (a measure of molecular weight).

   5. The size of someone or something, as ascertained by measuring. (Now chiefly in make to measure.) [from 14th c.]

      • The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

   6. (now rare) The act or process of measuring. [from 14th c.]

      (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

   7. A ruler, measuring stick, or graduated tape used to take measurements. [from 16th c.]
   8. (mathematics, now rare) A number which is contained in a given number a number of times without a remainder; a divisor or factor. [from 16th c.]

      the greatest common measure of two or more numbers

   9. (geology) A bed or stratum. [from 17th c.]

      coal measures; lead measures

   10. (mathematics) A function that assigns a non-negative number to a given set following the mathematical nature that is common among length, volume, probability and the like. [from 20th c.]
3. Metrical rhythm.
   1. (now archaic) A melody. [from 14th c.]
   2. (now archaic) A dance. [from 15th c.]
   3. (poetry) The manner of ordering and combining the quantities, or long and short syllables; meter; rhythm; hence, a metrical foot. [from 15th c.]

      a poem in iambic measure

   4. (music) A musical designation consisting of all notes and or rests delineated by two vertical bars; an equal and regular division of the whole of a composition; a bar. [from 17th c.]
4. A course of action.
   1. (in the plural) Actions designed to achieve some purpose; plans. [from 17th c.]
   2. A piece of legislation. [from 18th c.]

Synonyms

• (musical designation): bar
• (unit of measurement): metric

Hyponyms

• (mathematics): positive measure, signed measure, complex measure, Borel measure, ?-finite measure, complete measure, Lebesgue measure

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

measure (third-person singular simple present measures, present participle measuring, simple past and past participle measured)

1. To ascertain the quantity of a unit of material via calculated comparison with respect to a standard.

2. To be of (a certain size), to have (a certain measurement)

3. To estimate the unit size of something.

4. To judge, value, or appraise.
5. To obtain or set apart; to mark in even increments.
6. (rare) To traverse, cross, pass along; to travel over.
   • 1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds

     "And for a very sensible reason; there never was but one like her; or, that is, I have always thought so until to-day," replied the tar, glancing toward Natalie; "for my old eyes have seen pretty much everything they have got in this little world. Ha! I should like to see the inch of land or water that my foot hasn't measured."

7. To adjust by a rule or standard.
   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living

     To secure a contented spirit, you must measure your desires by your fortune and condition, not your fortunes by your desires

8. To allot or distribute by measure; to set off or apart by measure; often with out or off.

   • With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

   • That portion of eternity which is called time, measured out by the sun.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• “measure”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
• measure in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• measure in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• measure at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Reaumes

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /p???p????n/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p???p????n/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /p???po(?)???n/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /p???po???n/
• Rhymes: -??(?)??n
• Hyphenation: pro?por?tion

Noun

proportion (countable and uncountable, plural proportions)

1. (countable) A quantity of something that is part of the whole amount or number.

   • “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. (uncountable) Harmonious relation of parts to each other or to the whole.
3. (countable) Proper or equal share.
   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living

     Let the women […] do the same things in their proportions and capacities.

4. The relation of one part to another or to the whole with respect to magnitude, quantity, or degree.
   • 1563, John Foxe, Actes and Monuments

     The image of Christ made in Pilate's time after his own proportion.
5. (mathematics, countable) A statement of equality between two ratios.
6. (mathematics, archaic) The "rule of three", in which three terms are given to find a fourth.
7. (countable, chiefly in the plural) Size.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

proportion (third-person singular simple present proportions, present participle proportioning, simple past and past participle proportioned)

1. (transitive) To divide into proper shares; to apportion.
2. (transitive) To form symmetrically.
3. (transitive, art) To set or render in proportion.
4. (transitive, archaic) To correspond to.

Translations

Further reading

• proportion in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• proportion in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

French

Etymology

From Latin pr?porti?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p??.p??.sj??/

Noun

proportion f (plural proportions)

1. proportion

Derived terms