Where does “proportion” come from?

Proportion comes from Middle English proporcion, from Old French proportion, from Latin proportio, ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European root bʰuH- meaning to grow or increase.

proportion (English): A quantity of something that is part of the whole...

Definitions

  1. A quantity of something that is part of the whole...

Ancestry of “proportion”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishproporcion
2Old Frenchproportion
3Latinprōportiōproportion
4Latinprō-forward direction, forward movement
5Proto-Italic*pro-pro- see the Latin entry for further meanings
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
7Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
8Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
9Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “proportion

Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós