The term proportion was initially introduced in English in 1382 through a translation of the Bible by theologian John Wycliffe, with the verb form following shortly after. Initially spelled as proporcyon, it went through variations such as proporcioun and proportion before settling on the latter. The word has its roots in Old French proporcion and Latin proportionem, both of which meant “measurement”. Proportionem itself originated from the phrase pro portione, which can be understood as “according to the relation” but literally translates to “for part”: pro meaning “for” (tracing back to Proto-Indo-European per, or “before”) and portione being the ablative singular form of portionem, signifying “proportion” or “part” (stemming from Proto-Indo-European pere, meaning “to allot”).
