different between portion vs term

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

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: tûm, IPA^(key): /t??m/
• (US) enPR: tûrm, IPA^(key): /t?m/
• Rhymes: -??(r)m

Etymology 1

From Middle English terme, borrowed from Old French terme, from Latin terminus (“a bound, boundary, limit, end; in Medieval Latin, also a time, period, word, covenant, etc.”).

Doublet of terminus. Old English had termen, from the same source.

Noun

term (plural terms)

1. That which limits the extent of anything; limit, extremity, bound, boundary.

2. A chronological limitation or restriction.

3. Any of the binding conditions or promises in a legal contract.

4. (geometry, archaic) A point, line, or superficies that limits.

   A line is the term of a superficies, and a superficies is the term of a solid.

5. A word or phrase, especially one from a specialised area of knowledge.

   "Algorithm" is a term used in computer science.

6. Relations among people.
7. Part of a year, especially one of the three parts of an academic year.
8. Duration of a set length; period in office of fixed length.
   1. The time during which legal courts are open.
   2. Certain days on which rent is paid.
9. With respect to a pregnancy, the period during which birth usually happens (approximately 40 weeks from conception).

10. (of a patent) The maximum period during which the patent can be maintained into force.
11. (archaic) A menstrual period.
    • 1660, Samuel Pepys, Diary

      My wife, after the absence of her terms for seven weeks, gave me hopes of her being with child, but on the last day of the year she hath them again.

12. (mathematics) Any value (variable or constant) or expression separated from another term by a space or an appropriate character, in an overall expression or table.

13. (logic) The subject or the predicate of a proposition; one of the three component parts of a syllogism, each one of which is used twice.

    • The subject and predicate of a proposition are, after Aristotle, together called its terms or extremes.

14. (astrology) An essential dignity in which unequal segments of every astrological sign have internal rulerships which affect the power and integrity of each planet in a natal chart.
15. (art) A statue of the upper body, sometimes without the arms, ending in a pillar or pedestal. [from 17th c.]
    • 1773, Joshua Reynolds, in John Ingamells, John Edgcumbe (eds.), The Letters of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Yale 2000, p. 42:

      You have been already informed, I have no doubt, of the subject which we have chosen: the adorning a Term of Hymen with festoons of flowers.

16. (nautical) A piece of carved work placed under each end of the taffrail.

    The Cabin is large and commodious, well calculated for the Accommodation of Pa?engers. Merchandi?e, Produce, &c. carried on the lowe?t Terms.[1]

Hyponyms

• blanket term
• collective term
• umbrella term
• (part of a year): trimester, semester, quarter

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• idiom
• lexeme
• listeme
• word

Verb

term (third-person singular simple present terms, present participle terming, simple past and past participle termed)

1. To phrase a certain way; to name or call.

Synonyms

• describe as, designate, dub, name, refer to; see also Thesaurus:denominate

Adjective

term (not comparable)

1. (medicine, colloquial) Born or delivered at term.

References

• term on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Clipping of terminal.

Noun

term (plural terms)

1. (computing, informal) A computer program that emulates a physical terminal.

Etymology 3

Short for terminate, termination, terminated employee, etc.

Verb

term (third-person singular simple present terms, present participle terming, simple past and past participle termed)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To terminate one's employment

Synonyms

• axe, fire, sack; see also Thesaurus:lay off

Noun

term (plural terms)

1. One whose employment has been terminated

Further reading

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

Albanian

Etymology

From ter.

Noun

term m (indefinite plural terma, definite singular terma, definite plural termat)

1. foundation, plot of land

Related terms

• ter

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?rm

Noun

term m (plural termen, diminutive termpje n)

1. term; A word or phrase, especially one from a specialised area of knowledge.
2. (mathematics) term; One of the addends in a sum

Derived terms

• termsgewijs

Anagrams

• remt

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin terminus, via French terme and English term

Noun

term m (definite singular termen, indefinite plural termer, definite plural termene)

1. a term (word or phrase)

References

• “term” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin terminus, via French terme and English term

Noun

term m (definite singular termen, indefinite plural termar, definite plural termane)

1. a term (word or phrase)

References

• “term” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Swedish

Noun

term c

1. a term (a well-defined word or phrase, in a terminology)
2. (mathematics) a term (an operand in addition or subtraction)
3. singular of termer (“thermae, Roman baths”) (a facility for bathing in ancient Rome)

Declension

Related terms

• fackterm
• termbank
• terminologi

References