Etymograph

English

portion

Portion comes from Middle English porcioun ‘part’, and goes back to Latin portiō.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEportiō1‘a share’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400porcion1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500porcioun1‘part’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1611portion1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English portion
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “The Lord of that ſeruant […] will appoint him…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEportiōWiktionary, English portion‘a share’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400porcionWiktionary, English portion
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500porciounWiktionary, English portion‘part’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1611portionWiktionary, English portion. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “The Lord of that ſeruant […] will appoint him…”

The story

English portion From Middle English porcioun, borrowed from Old French porcion, accusative of Latin portiōnem (‘a share, part, portion, relation, proportion’), from portiō, akin to pars (‘part’); see part.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Latin portiō

Today it means

noun An allocated amount.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “portion”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin portiō / portion

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