Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1704-1720, 1775-1822
[1,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
†PROPORTION, n. Sc. usage: the district assigned to an elder of the Presbyterian Church for visiting and general surveillance, a Quarter.Sc. 1704 R. Wodrow Analecta (M.C.) I. 52:
He had tuo persons under exercise, in his proportion, that were in the very same case, to deal with.Ayr. 1720 Ayr Presb. Reg. MS. (21 Dec.):
Their Ministers & the elder of their proportion being present befor presenting children to baptism.Lnk. a.1776 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 29:
You James, who is the elder of that proportion.Sc. 1822 T. Chalmers Works XVI. 158:
Each parish is divided into districts called proportions, over which an elder is appointed.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Proportion n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/proportion>
