disproportion
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L319595 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /dɪspɹəˈpɔːʃən/
noun
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Old French des-bor. ▲ Latin dis-bor. Middle English dis- English dis- English proportion English disproportion From dis- + proportion.
- The state of being out of proportion; an abnormal or improper ratio; an imbalance.
“[…] a handsome creature, remarkably so, with features so symmetrical […] that a micrometer gauge could scarcely find a disproportion in her smooth and broad mahogany-coloured face.”
“Then we, the social outsiders, turn around and dictate how men shall treat women (seldom, if ever, how women shall treat men; power in men's rather than women's hands being the excuse offered for this lop-sided arrangement), and how whites shall treat blacks (the same disproportion exists here too).”
- Lack of suitableness, adequacy, or due proportion to an end or use; unsuitableness.
“the disproportion of strength or means to an object”
verb
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Old French des-bor. ▲ Latin dis-bor. Middle English dis- English dis- English proportion English disproportion From dis- + proportion.
- To make unsuitable in quantity, form, or fitness; to violate symmetry in; to mismatch.
“To shape my legs of an unequal size; / To disproportion me in every part.”
“a degree of strength altogether disproportioned to the extent of its territory”