▪ I. proportion, n.
(prəʊˈpɔəʃən)
[ME. proporcioun, a. F. proportion (13th c. in Littré), ad. L. prōportiōn-em proportion, comparative relation, analogy, app. derived from the phrase prō portiōne for or in respect of (his or its) share: see portion.]
I. In general use.
1. A portion or part in its relation to the whole; a comparative part, a share; sometimes simply, a portion, division, part.
| c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 201 What sholde I tellen eche proporcion Of thynges whiche þat we werche vpon? 1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 213 According to the working of euerie part in his proportion. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 304 Therefore let our proportions for these Warres Be soone collected. 1632 High Commission Cases (Camden) 267 What proportion of maintenance shall be allowed her for Alimony? 1654 R. Codrington tr. Iustine v. 97 To demand their proportion in the spoils. 1700 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 291 Persons may come and peticion for proportions to build on. 1711 Fingall MSS. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 181 The major part of them embarked..about the beginning of December... Another proportion of them departed on the 22nd of December. 1822 Chalmers Sp. Gen. Assembly Wks. XVI. 158 Each parish is divided into districts called proportions, over which an elder is appointed. 1841–4 Emerson Ess., Love Wks. (Bohn) I. 72 The strong bent of nature is seen in the proportion which this topic..usurps in the conversation of society. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 73 The sea which covers so large a proportion of the earth's surface. |
2. The relation existing between things or magnitudes as to size, quantity, number or the like; comparative relation, ratio. Also fig.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 45 Þe proporcioun of þe roundenesse aboute of a cercle is to þe brede as is þe proporcioun of two and twenty to seuene. 1557 Recorde Whetst. B j, Any .2. nombers maie haue comparison and proportion together, although thei be incommensurable. As .3. and .4. 1663 Gerbier Counsel e vij, The Proportion of the Sun and Moon. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 33 They put in this Powder, to the proportion of a good spoonful for three Dishes or Cups full of Water. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. ii. xv. §12 Finite of any Magnitude, holds not any proportion to Infinite. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. iii. 94 The proportion of Births to Burials is found to be yearly as Fifty to Forty. 1814 Cary Dante, Paradise vi. 124 It is part of our delight, to measure Our wages with the merit; and admire The close proportion. 1831 Brewster Optics v. 46 To make this image as large as we please, and in any proportion to the object. 1848 Mill Pol. Econ. i. x. §3 The population exhibits, in every quinquennial census, a smaller proportion of births to the population. |
b. In phrase in († for, † of, † with) proportion. Const. to, unto († of), as.
| 1390 Gower Conf. II. 212 After that sche hath richesse, Her love is of proporcion. 1637 G. Sandys Trav. ii. 121 His tongue, of a marvelous length for proportion [earlier edd. for the p.] of his body. 1660 Willsford Scales Comm. 1 In proportion unto the rate it may be sold for. 1677 Govt. Venice 196 There being no Nobleman (with proportion) so well recompenced as they, no not the Doge himself. 1683 Ray Corr. (1848) 134 Small wings in proportion to the bulk of its body. 1723 Present St. Russia I. 53 Ordering how many Men each Governor is to raise in Proportion of his Jurisdiction. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) II. 28 The rooms large, but some of them not lofty in proportion. 1843 Ruskin Mod. Paint. I. ii. i. iii. §9 Every truth is valuable in proportion as it is characteristic of the thing of which it is affirmed. 1855 Prescott Philip II, I. ii. xii. 284 Margaret's credulity seems to have been in proportion to her hatred, and her hatred in proportion to her former friendship. |
3. transf. A relation, other than of quantity, between things; comparison; analogy † an analogue.
| 1538 Elyot Dict. Addit., Analogia, conueniency or proporcion, whose propretie is to conferre that which is doutfull, with that whiche is like to it, whiche is more certayne, to make it more playne. 1614 Selden Titles Hon. 4 Neither is [there] in a humane Monarchie what hath not in their [i.e. the Bees'] Commonwelth some remarquable proportion. 1664 Butler Hud. ii. ii. 109 Oaths are but words, and words but Wind,..And hold with deeds proportion, so As shadows to a substance do. 1690 Norris Beatitudes (1694) I. 2 He was to be a Law-giver, as well as Moses; and, to carry on the Proportion yet farther, he thought fit to imitate him in the very Manner and Circumstance of delivering his Law. 1824 Mackintosh Sp. in Ho. Com. 15 June, Wks. 1846 III. 462 What proportion does the contest bear to the country in which it prevails? |
4. (= due or proper proportion.) Due relation of one part to another; such relation of size, etc., between things or parts of a thing as renders the whole harmonious; balance, symmetry, agreement, harmony.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 132 Surely þo Chirche schal nevere be hool, byfore proporciouns of hir partis be broght ageyne by þis hevenly leche. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iv. iii. (1495) e vij/1 Dryenesse is the worste qualyte whan it passyth the proporcyons in bodyes. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xxix. 112 Well made of her membres, eche in his qualyte, and ryght egall in proporcyon, without eny dyfformyte. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxxiii. §2 Choise seeketh rather proportion then absolute perfection of goodnesse. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. xiii. 183 Let thy recreations..bear proportion with thine age. 1723 Chambers tr. Le Clerc's Treat. Archit. I. 29 By Proportion I don't here mean, a Relation of Ratio's as the Geometricians do; but a Suitableness of parts, founded on the good Taste of the Architect. a 1832 Mackintosh Revolution of 1688 Wks. 1846 II. 11 He never obtained an importance which bore any proportion to his great abilities. |
b. Phrase. out of proportion, having no due relation in size, amount, etc. (usu. implying excess).
| 1710 Palmer Proverbs 359 If the pomp exceed the character, and be carry'd out of proportion. 1831 Keble Serm. v. (1848) 116 Civil liberty..is usually allowed to fill a space in our thoughts, out of all proportion to that which it fills in the plan of happiness drawn out in the Bible. |
5. Size or extent, relatively to some standard; relative size; also fig. extent, degree. at full proportion, full size, life size. b. Now only in pl. Dimensions. (Cf. dimension n. 2.)
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 108 Here [the planets'] cercles more or lasse be, Mad after the proporcion Of therthe. 1551 Turner Herbal i. I v, The proporcion of the lesse is much like vnto a water rose, otherwyse called nunefar. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 230 Cornelius à Lapide,..whose volumes are swelled to that proportion that they take up halfe a Classis in our publique Libraries. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 26 It may in a certain proportion bee called Servitude, inasmuch as the Republick hath been constrained to assume the total Dominion and Government thereof. c 1710 C. Fiennes Diary 125 Hung with pictures att full proportion of ye Royal family. |
| b. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 10 A few very moderate and easie documents of meet proportions. 1824–9 Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. 1846 II. 155/1 Few..have beheld their contemporaries in those proportions in which they appeared a century later. 1850 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. iv. (1872) 59 Monsters, with some part of our being bearing the development of a giant, and others showing the proportions of a dwarf. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xvi. 96 The ice-crags..seemed of gigantic proportions. |
† 6. The action of proportioning or making proportionate; proportionate estimate, reckoning, or adjustment. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. T. 558 Whan he hadde founde his firste mansion He knew the remenant by proporcion. a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 69 To make proportion for the expenses of this houshold for an hoole yere. 1605 Shakes. Macb. i. iv. 19 Would thou hadst lesse deseru'd, That the proportion both of thanks, and payment, Might haue beene mine. |
7. Configuration, form, shape; a figure or image of anything. Obs. exc. poet.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 5142 A purtrayour in preuate scho prays..to pas, And his personele proporcions in perchemen hire bring. 1530 Palsgr. 259/1 Proporcyon of a beest, lineature. 1535 Coverdale Wisd. xiii. 13 A croked pece of wodd..he geueth it some proporcion, fashioneth it after the similitude of a man, or maketh it like some beest. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. iv. 76 b, The figure following doth liuely represent vnto you the proportion of the Ianissary. 1678 Wood Life II. 411 On the top of the said monument layes the short proportion of a man. 1842 Tennyson Two Voices 20 She gave him mind, the lordliest Proportion, and..Dominion in the head and breast. |
† 8. A relative quantity, amount, or number of. (But the relativity is often not thought of.) Obs.
| 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 22 It bringeth not forth Mules nor Asses, but of horse infinite proportions. c 1618 Moryson Itin. iv. (1903) 372 The Netherlanders, who make infinite proportions of hangings for houses. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts, N.T. 102 God..hath indued him with an infinite proportion thereof. 1652 Howell Giraffi's Rev. Naples ii. 12 They burnt a huge proportion of bisket. |
II. In technical senses.
9. Math. An equality of ratios, esp. of geometrical ratios; a relation among quantities such that the quotient of the first divided by the second is equal to that of the third divided by the fourth.
This was formerly distinguished as geometrical proportion (see geometrical a. 1 b) in contrast to arithmetical proportion (now obs.). harmonic(al proportion or † musical proportion: see harmonic a. 5 a.
| c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. Prol. 1 Abilite to lerne sciencez touchinge noumbres & proporciouns. 1551 Recorde Pathw. Knowl. Pref., Lycurgus..is most praised for that he didde chaunge the state of their common wealthe frome the proportion Arithmeticall to a proportion geometricall. 1571 Digges Pantom., Math. Disc. T j b, Any lyne or number is sayde to be diuided by extreame and meane proportion, when the diuision..is suche.. that the whole line or number retayne the same proportion to the greater parte that the greater doth to the lesser. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 32 Two..Lines being given,..to find a third which shall be in proportion unto them. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5) s.v., Arithmetical Proportion is when Three or more Numbers proceed with the same difference. Geometrical, when Three or more Numbers have the same reason, or where every Number bears the same proportion to that which preceeds. 1798 Hutton Course Math. (1810) I. 110 If two or more couplets of numbers have equal ratios, or equal differences, the equality is named Proportion, and the terms of the ratios Proportionals. 1859 Barn. Smith Arith. & Algebra (ed. 6) 432 Proportion is the relation of equality subsisting between two ratios. |
b. Arith. The rule or process by which, three quantities being given, a fourth may be found which is in the same ratio to the third as the second is to the first, or (what is the same thing) in the same ratio to the second that the third is to the first; the rule of three.
| 1542 Recorde Gr. Artes (1575) 240 The rule of Proportions..whose vse is, by three numbers knowen, to find another vnknowen. 1678 Phillips (ed. 4) s.v., In Arithmetick, the Rule of proportion..is otherwise called the Golden Rule, or Rule of Three. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 129 In 1624 he transported into France the Rule of Proportion, having a little before been invented by Edm. Gunter of Gresham Coll. 1827 Hutton Course Math. I. 50 Compound Proportion, is a rule by means of which the student may resolve such questions as require two or more statings in simple proportion. |
10. Mus. and Pros. † a. Metrical or musical rhythm or harmony; hence, an air, tune, melody. Cf. measure n. 16, 17. Obs.
| 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 43 Orpheus..of me wolde never take hede Nor of his armonye oo poynt me teche In musical proporcyon rymes to lede. 1513 Douglas æneis vi. x. 43 Orpheus of Trace..Playand proportionis and springis dyvyne Apon his harp. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. i. (Arb.) 79 And this our proportion Poeticall resteth in fiue points: Staffe, Measure, Concord, Scituation and figure all which shall be spoken of in their places. |
b. Ratio (of duration of notes, rates of vibration, lengths of strings, etc.): = sense 2, in specific applications.
| 1609 Douland Ornith. Microl. 59 The Art of Musicke doth onely consider of the Proportion of inequalitie. 1658 Playford Skill Mus. vi. 20 Notes in Musick have two Names, one for Tune, the other for Time or Proportion of sounds... Here (according to the ordinary Proportion of Time) we account two Minums to the Semibrief. 1694 Holder Treat. Harmony v. (1731) 86 It was said..that Mercurius's Lyre was strung with four Chords, having those Proportions, 6, 8, 9, 12. 1898 Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms s.v., This system of proportion was used not only with reference to intervals but also to the comparative length of notes. |
11. Chem. = proportional B. 3.
| 1863–72 Watts Dict. Chem. I. 454 Davy..introduced the word proportion as a substitute for Dalton's word atom. Ibid., Every..symbol is used to express one atomic proportion of its particular element. |
▪ II. proportion, v.
(prəʊˈpɔəʃən)
[ME. a. OF. proporcioner (14th c. in Littré), mod.F. proportionner, ad. med.L. prōportiōn-āre (Bede), f. prōportio: see prec.]
1. trans. To adjust in proper proportion to something else, as to size, quantity, number, etc.; to make proportionate. Const. to, with.
| 1449 in Calr. Proc. Chanc. Q. Eliz. (1830) II. Pref. 55 All the remnaunt of the tymbr..shall be wele and covenably proporcioned after the scantelons of tymbr above writen. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. vi. (1885) 120 Ffor aftir that [his expenses] nedith his reuenues to be proporcioned. 1530 Palsgr. 668/1, I proporcyon a thynge, I make it of juste measure and quantyte, je proporcionne. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xi. 46 A Gunner ought..to proportion his Charge according to the thinnest side of the Metal. 1710 Prideaux Orig. Tithes i. 5 To proportion the means to the end. 1833 H. Martineau Briery Creek ii. 39 You can proportion your supply exactly to the demand. 1862 Mill Utilit. 85 The punishment should be proportioned to the offence. |
2. To adjust or regulate the proportions of; to fashion, form, shape. Obs. exc. in proportioned.
| a 1380 [see proportioned ppl. a. 2]. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3053 Coruyn by crafte, colourd with honde, Proporcionet pertly with painteres deuyse. c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 210 Thow must square & proporcioun þy bred clene & evenly. 1641 J. Trappe Theol. Theol. 157 A Painter..had illfavouredly proportioned a Hen. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 144 To proportion the heat to such a temperate degree, that there be neither too much nor too little. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 317 For thus proportioning the Divisions in the Semi-circle, you may proportion the Divisions and Sub-divisions of Hours upon the Dyal Plane. |
† 3. To bear a due proportion to, to be in proportion to; to correspond to, to equal. Obs.
| 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. vi. 134 Bid him therefore consider of his ransome, which must proportion the losses we haue borne, the subiects we haue lost. 1652 Sparke Prim. Devot. (1663) 417 Yet here her offering proportioneth her ability. 1654–66 Earl of Orrery Parthen. (1676) 271 Their Success had proportion'd their Virtues. |
† 4. To divide into proportionate parts; to measure or mete out: to distribute in due shares.
| 1535 Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 27 The sayde chancellour..shal also proporcion the sayd religious houses and other the premisses in ten partes. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. lxvii. (1739) 163 The Judges itinerant had their time proportioned out to every County. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 87 ¶9 Proportioning the Glory of a Battle among the whole Army. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 41 They agree to proportion their forces. |
† 5. To allot or assign (a thing) to a person as his portion; to apportion. Also, To assign (a person) to a lot or portion. Obs.
| 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 96 They doe all things better then we are able to proportion them out unto them. 1612 Sir R. Dudley in Fortescue Papers (Camden) 7 note, Uppon the sale of those landes, I have proportioned a thankefull gratuity for you. 1642 Rogers Naaman 69 Samuel proportioned Eliab to a Crowne at first sight. a 1711 Ken Submission Poems (1857) 39 They'll me proportion what for me is best. 1798 Craig in Owen Wellesley's Desp. (1877) 599 It will then remain to proportion its several parts into the different branches. |
† 6. To compare or estimate proportionately; to estimate the relative proportions of. Obs.
| 1591 Troub. Raigne K. John (1611) 62, I doubt not when your Highnesse sees my prize, You may proportion all their former pride. 1616 B. Jonson Forrest, To Penshurst 99 Now, Penshurst, they that will proportion thee With other edifices. 1635 Quarles Embl. iv. ii, Fond earth! Proportion not my seeming love To my long stay. 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) II. i. ii. 200 To think with more Equality of Nature, and to proportion her Defects a little better. |