Both Uses of
proportion
in
Romeo and Juliet
- He fights as you sing prick-song—keeps time, distance, and proportion;
p. 92.9 *proportion = things in balance
- it makes me mad:
Day, night, hour, time, tide, work, play,
Alone, in company, still my care hath been
To have her match'd, and having now provided
A gentleman of noble parentage,
Of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly train'd,
Stuff'd, as they say, with honourable parts,
Proportion'd as one's heart would wish a man,—And then to have a wretched puling fool,
A whining mammet, in her fortune's tender,
To answer, 'I'll not wed,—I cannot love,
I am too young,—I pray you pardon me:'—But, an you will not wed, I'll pardon you:
Graze where you will, you shall not house with me:
Look to't, think on't, I do not use to jest.†p. 178.0 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(proportion as in: the proportion of females) relative amount, quantity, or collectionThe exact meaning of this sense of proportion is subject to its context. For example:
- "The female proportion is 50%." -- percentage or share
- "The proportion of oil to vinegar." -- ratio (quantity of something relative to the quantity of something else)
- "In the survey, the female proportion said..." -- group
-
(2)
(proportion as in: a problem of large proportion) size or dimension
-
(3)
(proportion as in: respond in proportion) appropriate in size, amount, or degree