different between portion vs scrap

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sk?æp/
• Rhymes: -æp

Etymology 1

Middle English scrappe, from Old Norse skrap, from skrapa (“to scrape, scratch”), from Proto-Germanic *skrap?n?, *skrepan? (“to scrape, scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *skreb-, *skrep- (“to engrave”)

Noun

scrap (plural scraps)

1. A (small) piece; a fragment; a detached, incomplete portion.
   • 1852, Thomas De Quincey, Sir William Hamilton (published in Hogg's Instructor)

     I have no materials — not a scrap.

   I found a scrap of cloth to patch the hole.

2. (usually in the plural) Leftover food.

   Give the scraps to the dogs and watch them fight.

3. The crisp substance that remains after drying out animal fat.

   pork scraps

4. (uncountable) Discarded objects (especially metal) that may be dismantled to recover their constituent materials, junk.

5. (Britain, in the plural) A piece of deep-fried batter left over from frying fish, sometimes sold with chips.
6. (ethnic slur, offensive) A Hispanic criminal, especially a Mexican or one affiliated with the Sureno gang.
7. (obsolete) A snare for catching birds.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

scrap (third-person singular simple present scraps, present participle scrapping, simple past and past participle scrapped)

1. (transitive) To discard.
2. (transitive, of a project or plan) To stop working on indefinitely.
3. (intransitive) To scrapbook; to create scrapbooks.
4. (transitive) To dispose of at a scrapyard.
5. (transitive) To make into scrap.

Derived terms

• scrapper

Translations

Etymology 2

Unknown

Noun

scrap (plural scraps)

1. A fight, tussle, skirmish.

   We got in a little scrap over who should pay the bill.

Translations

Verb

scrap (third-person singular simple present scraps, present participle scrapping, simple past and past participle scrapped)

1. to fight

Translations

Anagrams

• APCRs, Carps, RSPCA, carps, craps, parcs, pracs, scarp