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Bulk vs Portion - What's the difference?

bulk | portion | Related terms |

Bulk is a related term of portion.


As nouns the difference between bulk and portion

is that bulk is size, mass or volume while portion is portion.

As an adjective bulk

is being large in size, mass or volume (of goods, etc).

As a verb bulk

is to appear or seem to be, as to bulk or extent.

bulk

English

(wikipedia bulk)

Noun

  • Size, mass or volume.
  • * 1729 .
  • The Quantity of Matter is the mea?ure of the ?ame, arising from its den?ity and bulk conjunctly.
  • *
  • The cliff-dwellers had chipped and chipped away at this boulder till it rested its tremendous bulk upon a mere pin-point of its surface.
  • The major part of something.
  • * , chapter=12
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 15, author=Felicity Cloake, work=Guardian
  • , title= How to cook the perfect nut roast , passage=I'm convinced that the nut's very nutritiousness is to blame for the dish's poor reputation. They're so dense that a loaf made primarily from nuts would be more suitable for slicing into energy bars and selling to mountaineering supply shops - hence the main bulk of a nut roast is generally some form of carbohydrate, intended to lighten the load. }}
  • The result of water retained by fibre.
  • (uncountable, transport) Unpackaged goods when transported in large volumes, e.g. coal, ore or grain.
  • (countable) a cargo or any items moved or communicated in the manner of cargo.
  • (bodybuilding) Excess body mass, especially muscle.
  • (brane cosmology) A hypothetical higher-dimensional space within which our own four-dimensional universe may exist.
  • (obsolete) The body.
  • * Shakespeare
  • My liver leaped within my bulk .
    (George Turberville)

    Adjective

    (-)
  • being large in size, mass or volume (of goods, etc.)
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To appear or seem to be, as to bulk or extent.
  • * Leslie Stephen
  • The fame of Warburton possibly bulked larger for the moment.
  • To grow in size; to swell or expand.
  • portion

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An allocated amount.
  • That which is divided off or separated, as a part from a whole; a separated part of anything.
  • One's fate; lot.
  • * Bible, Luke xii. 46
  • The lord of that servant will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
  • * Keble
  • Man's portion is to die and rise again.
  • The part of an estate given or falling to a child or heir; an inheritance.
  • * Bible, Luke xv. 12
  • Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.
  • A wife's fortune; a dowry.
  • * 1613 , , V. iv. 31:
  • Commend me to her, and to piece her portion / Tender her this.

    Usage notes

    Relatively formal, compared to the more informal part or more concrete and casual piece. For example, “part of the money” (both informal) but “portion of the proceeds” (both formal).

    Synonyms

    * part * piece

    Derived terms

    * portionless * proportion

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To divide into amounts, as for allocation to specific purposes.
  • To endow with a portion or inheritance.
  • Him portioned maids, apprenticed orphans, blest. — Alexander Pope.

    Usage notes

    * Particularly used as portion out. * Relatively formal, compared to the more informal divide, divide up, or the casual divvy, divvy up.

    Synonyms

    * divide, divide up * divvy, divvy up

    Derived terms

    * portion off * portion out