fate implies an inevitable and usually an adverse outcome.
the fate of the submarine is unknown
destiny implies something foreordained and often suggests a great or noble course or end.
the country's destiny to be a model of liberty to the world
lot and portion imply a distribution by fate or destiny, lot suggesting blind chance,
it was her lot to die childless
portion implying the apportioning of good and evil.
remorse was his daily portion
doom distinctly implies a grim or calamitous fate.
if the rebellion fails, his doom is certain
Examples of portion in a Sentence
Noun
A portion of the donations will be given to the orphanage. Portions of land were used for farming.
A considerable portion of the city was flooded.
The restaurant gives large portions.
She divided the pie into six equal portions. Verb
The work was portioned to each member of the staff. portioned out the medical supplies equally
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Noun
Many are portions of proteins which send messages or regulate systems in the body, often in ways that scientists don’t fully understand.—👁 Image Dhruv Khullar, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026 Three additional locations are planned in the east, southwest and northwest portions of the county.—👁 Image Mary Ramsey
april 6, Charlotte Observer, 6 Apr. 2026
Verb
My old colleague Peter Holderith tipped this off a few years ago, actually—that automakers should stop trying to cram every feature into one megascreen and portion them out into localized panels that group similar functions together.—👁 Image Adam Ismail, The Drive, 1 Apr. 2026 Pre-portioning baskets from the start, setting a one-treat-per-day rule after Easter morning and donating or freezing the excess are the strategies parents are actually using.—👁 Image Allison Palmer, Kansas City Star, 30 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for portion
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English porcioun, porcion "part allotted to a person or institution, share, section into which a thing is divided, quantity", borrowed from Anglo-French porciun, porcioun, borrowed from Latin portiōn-, portiō "ratio, proportion, part, share" (earliest in the phrase prō portiōne "in the degree proper to each, proportionately"), probably by dissimilation from *prōrtiōne, by univerbation and syncope from prō ratiōne "in proportion" (with ratiō "reckoning, calculation, proportion") — more at pro- entry 2, reason entry 1
Note:
If correct, this etymology represents the first of two univerbations with the preposition/prefix prō̆, the first with ratiōn- (whence *prō ratiōne > *prōratiōne > *prōrtiōne > portiōn-, portiō), the second with the newly formed noun portiō (whence prō portiōne > *prōportiōne > prōportiōn-, prōportiō—see proportion entry 1). Also suggested is derivation of portiō from partītiōn-, partītiō "sharing out, distribution, division of a speech" (see partition entry 1), assuming *prō partiōne reduced from *prō partītione; however, the noun partītiō is not attested before Cicero, while portiō is used already by Plautus.
Verb
Middle English portionen, porciounen "to divide into portions," borrowed from Anglo-French porcioner, borrowed from Medieval Latin portiōnāre, derivative of Latin portiōn-, portiō "ratio, proportion, part, share" — more at portion entry 1
