portfolio

From Italian portafoglio; cognate with French portefeuille (“folder, wallet”), from Latin portāre (“to carry”) and folium (“sheet”). The meaning "collection of responsibilities" came by extension in the 1930s.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɔɹtˈfoʊ.liˌoʊ/, /poɹt-/, /-oʊl.joʊ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɔːtˈfəʊ.liˌəʊ/, /-əʊl.jəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊljəʊ

portfolio (plural portfolios)

1. A case for carrying papers, drawings, photographs, maps and other flat documents. [from 1720s]
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Introduction”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 142:

     He opened an embroidered portfolio; and, from its perfumed depths, took out a letter, which he began to read aloud.

3. (by extension) The collection of such documents, especially the works of an artist or photographer.
4. (politics) The post and the responsibilities of a cabinet minister or other head of a government department. [from 1930s]

   Synonym: ministry

6. (finance) The group of investments and other assets held by an investor. [from 1950s]
   • 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:

     Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. […] Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.

7. (business) A collection of assets; (figurative) any collection of things considered as investments or assets.

   I would like to introduce you to our portfolio of services.

   • 1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 378:

     In the past, thoughts were too real to be kept like a cultural portfolio of stocks and bonds. But now we have mental assets.

   • 1989 February 10, Stephen Fry et al., “Christening”, in A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Season 1, Episode 5:

     Father: Darling, and no disrespect to you, Vicar, but what I'm thinking is this. How about a mixed portfolio, whereby we spread him through Judaism, Islam, Hindu, and so on, maintaining a firm base in the Church of England?
     Mother: It does sound safer.
     Father: Exactly.

8. A range of products.

   product portfolio

• → Portuguese: portfólio, portfolio, portefólio (Portugal)

• blad
• curriculum vitae
• repertoire

• portfolio on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Internationalism (see English portfolio), ultimately from Italian portafoglio.

• IPA^(key): /ˈportfolio/, [ˈpo̞r.t̪fo̞ˌlio̞]
• Rhymes: -io
• Hyphenation^(key): port‧fo‧lio

portfolio

1. portfolio (representative collection of the works of an artist, designer, or similar, especially as used to present to potential clients)

• “portfolio”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03

• IPA^(key): /pɔʁt.fɔ.ljo/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -jo

portfolio m (plural portfolios)

1. portfolio

Borrowed from English portfolio, from Italian portafoglio. Doublet of portfel.

• IPA^(key): /pɔrˈtfɔ.ljɔ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔljɔ
• Syllabification: por‧tfo‧lio

portfolio n (indeclinable)

1. portfolio (case for carrying papers, drawings, photographs, maps and other flat documents)

• portfolio in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• portfolio in Polish dictionaries at PWN