Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Forming a relationship with other parts or quantities; being in proportion.
  • adjective Properly related in size, degree, or other measurable characteristics; corresponding.
  • adjective Mathematics Having the same or a constant ratio.
  • noun One of the quantities in a mathematical proportion.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Based upon proportion; pertaining to or having proportion.
  • According to or having a due proportion; being in suitable proportion or degree.
  • In mathematics, having the same or a constant ratio: as, proportional quantities.
  • A scale for preserving the proportions of drawings or parts when changing their size.
  • noun A quantity in proportion.
  • noun A table of proportional parts.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Math.) Any number or quantity in a proportion.
  • noun (Chem.), obsolete The combining weight or equivalent of an element.
  • adjective Having a due proportion, or comparative relation; being in suitable proportion or degree.
  • adjective Relating to, or securing, proportion.
  • adjective (Math.) Constituting a proportion; having the same, or a constant, ratio.
  • adjective logistic logarithms. See under Logistic.
  • adjective a scale on which are marked parts proportional to the logarithms of the natural numbers; a logarithmic scale.
  • adjective (Draughting) instruments used in making copies of drawings, or drawings of objects, on an enlarged or reduced scale.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective At a constant ratio (to). Two magnitudes (numbers) are said to be proportional if the second varies in a direct relation arithmetically to the first.
  • adjective In proportion (to), proportionate. More common in US than UK.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun one of the quantities in a mathematical proportion
  • adjective having a constant ratio
  • adjective properly related in size or degree or other measurable characteristics; usually followed by `to'

Etymologies

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Examples

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  • JM has observed that the hardness of the butter is directly proportional to the softness of the bread.

    July 17, 2011