[syn: assign, allot, portion]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Portion \Por"tion\, n. [F., from L. portio, akin to pars,
partis, a part. See Part, n.]
1. That which is divided off or separated, as a part from a
whole; a separated part of anything.
[1913 Webster]
2. A part considered by itself, though not actually cut off
or separated from the whole.
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These are parts of his ways; but how little a
portion is heard of him! --Job xxvi.
14.
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Portions and parcels of the dreadful past.
--Tennyson.
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3. A part assigned; allotment; share; fate.
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The lord of that servant . . . will appoint him his
portion with the unbelievers. --Luke xii.
46.
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Man's portion is to die and rise again. --Keble.
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4. The part of an estate given to a child or heir, or
descending to him by law, and distributed to him in the
settlement of the estate; an inheritance.
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Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.
--Luke xv. 12.
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5. A wife's fortune; a dowry. --Shak.
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Syn: Division; share; parcel; quantity; allotment; dividend.
Usage: Portion, Part. Part is generic, having a simple
reference to some whole. Portion has the additional
idea of such a division as bears reference to an
individual, or is allotted to some object; as, a
portion of one's time; a portion of Scripture.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Portion \Por"tion\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Portioned; p. pr. &
vb. n. Portioning.]
1. To separate or divide into portions or shares; to parcel;
to distribute.
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And portion to his tribes the wide domain. --Pope.
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2. To endow with a portion or inheritance.
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Him portioned maids, apprenticed orphans, blest.
--Pope.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
portion
n 1: something determined in relation to something that includes
it; "he wanted to feel a part of something bigger than
himself"; "I read a portion of the manuscript"; "the
smaller component is hard to reach"; "the animal
constituent of plankton" [syn: part, portion,
component part, component, constituent]
2: something less than the whole of a human artifact; "the rear
part of the house"; "glue the two parts together" [syn:
part, portion]
3: the allotment of some amount by dividing something; "death
gets more than its share of attention from theologians" [syn:
parcel, portion, share]
4: assets belonging to or due to or contributed by an individual
person or group; "he wanted his share in cash" [syn: share,
portion, part, percentage]
5: your overall circumstances or condition in life (including
everything that happens to you); "whatever my fortune may
be"; "deserved a better fate"; "has a happy lot"; "the luck
of the Irish"; "a victim of circumstances"; "success that was
her portion" [syn: fortune, destiny, fate, luck,
lot, circumstances, portion]
6: money or property brought by a woman to her husband at
marriage [syn: dowry, dowery, dower, portion]
7: an individual quantity of food or drink taken as part of a
meal; "the helpings were all small"; "his portion was larger
than hers"; "there's enough for two servings each" [syn:
helping, portion, serving]
v 1: give out; "We were assigned new uniforms" [syn: assign,
allot, portion]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
234 Moby Thesaurus words for "portion":
Friday, Friday the thirteenth, adjunct, administer, allocate,
allocation, allot, allotment, allowance, amount, antepast,
appanage, appointed lot, apportion, apportionment, assign,
assignment, astral influences, astrology, bag, bang, batch,
beverage, big end, bigger half, bit, bite, bolt, book of fate,
booster, booster dose, booster shot, break up, budget, bumper,
bunch, carve, carve up, chunk, circumstance, clutch, coil,
commission, component, consign, constellation, contingent, count,
course, cover, cross section, cup, cut, cut up, deal, deal out,
deck, dessert, destination, destiny, detachment, detail,
dies funestis, disburse, dish, dispense, disperse, dispose,
distribute, district, divide, divide into shares, divide up,
divide with, dividend, division, divvy, divvy up, dole, dole out,
doom, dose, dot, dower, dowry, draft, dram, drench, drink,
dropping, drug packet, end, endowment, entree, entremets,
equal share, fatality, fate, fix, foredoom, fortune, foundation,
fraction, fragment, future, give out, gob, group, gulp, guzzle,
half, halver, heap, help, helping, hit, hunk, ides of March,
inevitability, injection, installment, interest, investment, issue,
item, jointure, kismet, lap, large amount, legal jointure,
libation, lot, lump, mainlining, marriage portion, measure,
measure out, meed, member, mess, mete, mete out, modicum, moiety,
moira, morsel, narcotic shot, nip, number, overdose, pack, parcel,
parcel out, part, particular, partition, pass around, pay out, peg,
percentage, piece, place, planets, plate, platter, popping,
portion out, potation, potion, proportion, prorate, pull, quadrant,
quaff, quantity, quantum, quarter, quota, rake-off, random sample,
ration, remainder, roll, run, sample, sampling, scrap,
second helping, section, sector, segment, service, serving,
settlement, share, share out, share with, shift, shot, sip,
skin-popping, slice, slice the pie, slice up, sliver, slug, slurp,
small amount, small share, snort, split, split up, spoon out,
stake, stars, stock, strip, subdivide, subdivision, subgroup,
subspecies, suck, sum, sup, swig, swill, thirds, tot, unlucky day,
wedge, weird, wheel of fortune, will of Heaven, zone
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):
PORTION. That part of a parent's estate, or the estate of one standing in
loco parentis, which is given to a child. 1 Vern. 204. Vide 8 Com. Dig. 539;
16 Vin. Ab. 4321; 1 Supp. to Ves. Jr. 34, 58, 303, 308; 2 Id. 46, 370, 404.