Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A section or quantity within a larger thing; a part of a whole.
  • noun A part separated from a whole.
  • noun A part that is allotted to a person or group, as.
  • noun A helping of food.
  • noun The part of an estate received by an heir.
  • noun A woman's dowry.
  • noun A person's lot or fate.
  • transitive verb To divide into parts or shares for distribution; parcel.
  • transitive verb To provide with a share, inheritance, or dowry.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To divide or distribute into portions or shares; parcel; allot in shares.
  • To endow with a portion or an inheritance.
  • noun A part of a whole, whether separated from it, or considered by itself though not actually separated.
  • noun A part assigned or contributed; a share; an allowance or allotment; hence, a helping at table.
  • noun Lot; fate; destiny.
  • noun The part of an estate given to a child or heir, or descending to him by law, or to be distributed to him in the settlement of the estate.
  • noun A wife's fortune; a dowry.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun That which is divided off or separated, as a part from a whole; a separated part of anything.
  • noun A part considered by itself, though not actually cut off or separated from the whole.
  • noun A part assigned; allotment; share; fate.
  • noun 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.
  • noun A wife's fortune; a dowry.
  • transitive verb To separate or divide into portions or shares; to parcel; to distribute.
  • transitive verb To endow with a portion or inheritance.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An allocated amount.
  • verb transitive To divide into amounts, as for allocation to specific purposes.
  • verb transitive To endow with a portion or inheritance.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
  • noun assets belonging to or due to or contributed by an individual person or group
  • noun the allotment of some amount by dividing something
  • noun an individual quantity of food or drink taken as part of a meal
  • verb give out
  • noun something determined in relation to something that includes it
  • noun money or property brought by a woman to her husband at marriage
  • noun something less than the whole of a human artifact

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin portiō, portiōn-; see perə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

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Examples

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  • In the UK, slang noun for the sex act. Now considered childish or old-fashioned.

    July 7, 2009