different between portion vs constituent

English

Etymology

From Middle English porcioun, borrowed from Old French porcion, from Latin portio (“a share, part, portion, relation, proportion”), akin to pars (“part”); see part. Compare proportion.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?p????n/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p????n/
• (Scotland, Ireland, other varieties without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /?po????n/, /?po????n/, /?po???n/
• Rhymes: -??(?)??n

Noun

portion (plural portions)

1. An allocated amount.
2. That which is divided off or separated, as a part from a whole; a separated part of anything.
3. One's fate; lot.
   • Man's portion is to die and rise again.

4. The part of an estate given or falling to a child or heir; an inheritance.
5. A wife's fortune; a dowry.
   • 1613, William Shakespeare, The Two Noble Kinsmen, V. iv. 31:

     Commend me to her, and to piece her portion / Tender her this.

Usage notes

Relatively formal, compared to the more informal part or more concrete and casual piece. For example, “part of the money” (both informal) but “portion of the proceeds” (both formal).

Synonyms

• part
• piece

Derived terms

• portionless
• proportion
• underportion

Translations

Verb

portion (third-person singular simple present portions, present participle portioning, simple past and past participle portioned)

1. (transitive) To divide into amounts, as for allocation to specific purposes.
2. (transitive) To endow with a portion or inheritance.
   • 1733, Alexander Pope, Epistle to Bathurst

     Him portioned maids, apprenticed orphans, blest.

Translations

Usage notes

• Particularly used as portion out.
• Relatively formal, compared to the more informal divide, divide up, or the casual divvy, divvy up.

Synonyms

• apportion
• divide, divide up
• divvy, divvy up

Derived terms

• portion off
• portion out

Further reading

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

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin portionem (accusative singular of portio).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p??.sj??/

Noun

portion f (plural portions)

1. portion

Descendants

• ? Turkish: porsiyon

Further reading

• “portion” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• potiron

Interlingua

Noun

portion (plural portiones)

1. portion

Swedish

Pronunciation

Noun

portion c

1. serving, an helping of food

Declension

Related terms

• portionera

English

Etymology

From Latin c?nstitu?ns, present participle of c?nstitu? (“I establish”), from com- (“together”) + statuo (“I set, place, establish”); see statute or statue, and compare institute and restitute.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?st?tju?nt/, /k?n?st?t?u?nt/

Adjective

constituent (not comparable)

1. being a part, or component of a whole
   • 1695, John Dryden (translator), Observations on the Art of Painting by Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy

     Body, soul, and reason are the three parts necessarily constituent of a man.

2. authorized to make a constitution
   • 1769, Junius, letter on 19 December, 1769, (part of Letters of Junius)

     A question of right arises between the constituent and representative body.

Related terms

Translations

Noun

constituent (plural constituents)

1. A part, or component of a whole
   • 1865, John Tyndall, The Constitution of the Universe (1869), page 11

     We know how to bring these constituents together, and to cause them to form water.

2. A person or thing which constitutes, determines, or constructs
   • 1677, Matthew Hale, The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature

     whose first composure and origination requires a higher and nobler Constituent than either Chance or the ordinary method of meer Natural causes.

3. A resident of an area represented by an elected official, particularly in relation to that official.
4. A voter who supports a [political] candidate; a supporter of a cause.
5. (law) One who appoints another to act for him as attorney in fact

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

6. (grammar) A functional element of a phrase or clause

Translations

See also

• Constituent (linguistics) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Further reading

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

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin constituens.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /kons.ti.tu?ent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /kuns.ti.tu?en/

Adjective

constituent (masculine and feminine plural constituents)

1. constituent (being a part of a whole)

Related terms

• constituir

Further reading

• “constituent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??s.ti.ty/

Verb

constituent

1. third-person plural present/subjunctive of constituer

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kon?sti.tu.ent/, [kõ??s?t??t?u?n?t?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /kon?sti.tu.ent/, [k?n?st?i?t?u?n?t?]

Verb

c?nstituent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of c?nstitu?

Romanian

Etymology

From French constituant

Noun

constituent n (plural constituen?i)

1. constituent

Declension