different between portion vs proposition

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 Middle English proposicioun, from Old French proposicion, from Latin pr?positi?, from the verb pr?pon?.

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: präp'?-z?sh??n IPA^(key): /?p??p??z???n/
• Rhymes: -???n
• Hyphenation: prop?o?si?tion

Noun

proposition (countable and uncountable, plural propositions)

1. (uncountable) The act of offering (an idea) for consideration.
2. (countable) An idea or a plan offered.
3. (countable, business settings) The terms of a transaction offered.
4. (countable, US, politics) In some states, a proposed statute or constitutional amendment to be voted on by the electorate.
5. (grammar) A complete sentence.
   • c. 1888, The Popular Educator: a Complete Encyclopaedia of Elementary, Advanced, and Technical Education. New and Revised Edition. Volume I., p.98:

     Our English nouns remain unchanged, whether they form the subject or the object of a proposition.

6. (countable, logic) The content of an assertion that may be taken as being true or false and is considered abstractly without reference to the linguistic sentence that constitutes the assertion; (Aristotelian logic) a predicate of a subject that is denied or affirmed and connected by a copula.

7. (countable, mathematics) An assertion so formulated that it can be considered true or false.
8. (countable, mathematics) An assertion which is provably true, but not important enough to be called a theorem.
9. A statement of religious doctrine; an article of faith; creed.

   the propositions of Wyclif and Huss

   • 1654, Jeremy Taylor, XXVIII Sermons preached at Golden Grove […]

     Some persons […] change their propositions according as their temporal necessities or advantages do turn.

10. (poetry) The part of a poem in which the author states the subject or matter of it.
11. Misspelling of preposition.

Synonyms

• (act of offering an idea for consideration): proposal, suggestion
• (idea or plan offered): proposal, suggestion
• (terms offered): proposal
• (content of an assertion): statement
• (proposed statute or constitutional amendment):

Derived terms

• propositional

Translations

Verb

proposition (third-person singular simple present propositions, present participle propositioning, simple past and past participle propositioned)

1. (transitive, informal) To make a suggestion of sexual intercourse to (someone with whom one is not sexually involved).
2. (transitive, informal) To make an offer or suggestion to (someone).

Related terms

• propose

Translations

Anagrams

• opistoporin

Finnish

Noun

proposition

1. Genitive singular form of propositio.

French

Etymology

From Latin pr?positi? (“statement, proposition”), from pr?p?n? (“propose”), from p?n? (“place; assume”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p??.po.zi.sj??/
• Homophone: propositions

Noun

proposition f (plural propositions)

1. proposition, suggestion
2. (grammar) proposition
3. (grammar) clause

Further reading

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

Middle English

Noun

proposition

1. Alternative form of proposicioun

Norman

Etymology

From Latin pr?positi?, pr?positi?nem.

Noun

proposition f (plural propositions)

1. (Jersey) proposition
2. (Jersey, grammar) clause

Derived terms

• proposition prîncipale (“main clause”)
• proposition s'gondaithe (“subordinate clause”)

Swedish

Noun

proposition c

1. a proposition, a government bill (draft of a law, proposed by the government)

Usage notes

• bills introduced by members of parliament are called motion

Declension

Related terms

• budgetproposition
• forskningsproposition
• försvarsproposition
• kompletteringsproposition
• kulturproposition
• propositionell
• statsverksproposition

References