English
proportion
Proportion comes from Latin prōportiō ‘comparative relation, proportion, symmetry,…’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōportiō‘comparative relation, proportion, symmetry, analogy’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400proportion
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500proporcion
- Englishearliest quotation 1563proportion
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōportiō‘comparative relation, proportion, symmetry, analogy’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400proportion
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500proporcion
- Englishearliest quotation 1563proportion
Earliest quotation: 1563, John Foxe: “The image of Christ made in Pilate's time after…”
A compound of pro ‘for, before’ + portio ‘share, part’
Proto-Indo-European *pró ‘toward’
Proto-Italic *prō ‘for’
Latin pro ‘for, before’
Every English word from Latin prōportiō
Today it means
noun A quantity of something that is part of the whole amount or number.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin prōportiō / proportion