portion
/ˈpoɹʃən/noun, verb
portion is spelled P-O-R-T-I-O-N: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 34 times per million words in written English, the 2,831st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, portion means “An allocated amount” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of portion is portions.
How many letters and syllables are in portion?
| Letters | 7: P-O-R-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 34 times per million words; the 2,831st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is portion?
Portion appears 34 times per million words in written English, the 2,831st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce portion?
- US /ˈpoɹʃən/
- UK /ˈpɔːʃən/
- British /ˈpoːʃən/
Portion has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-portion.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with portion
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of portion
- portions plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- portioning participle, present
- portioned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does portion mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An allocated amount.
- 2
That which is divided off or separated, as a part from a whole; a separated part of anything.
- 3
One's fate; lot.
- 4
The part of an estate given or falling to a child or heir; an inheritance.
- 5
A wife's fortune; a dowry.
verb
- 1
To divide into amounts, as for allocation to specific purposes.
- 2
To endow with a portion or inheritance.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Portion in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense allocated amount:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does portion come from?
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. Compare proportion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).