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 , 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 ]

  3. the allotment of some amount by dividing something; death gets more than its share of attention from theologians

    [ Syn: parcel , share ]

  4. assets belonging to or due to or contributed by an individual person or group; he wanted his share in cash

    [ Syn: share , 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 ]

  6. money or property brought by a woman to her husband at marriage

    [ Syn: dowry , dowery , dower ]

  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; theres enough for two servings each

    [ Syn: helping , serving ]

    portion (v.)

  1. give out; We were assigned new uniforms

    [ Syn: assign , allot ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.