portfolio

Borrowed 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.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɔːtˈfəʊ.liˌəʊ/, /-əʊl.jəʊ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /poɹtˈfoʊ.liˌoʊ/, /-oʊl.joʊ/

  • Audio (Texas):

    (file)

• (Australia) IPA^(key): /poːtˈfəʉ.liˌəʉ/, [poːtˈfɐʉ.liˌɐʉ], [-ɐʉl.jɐʉ]
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /poːtˈfɐʉ.liˌɐʉ/, /-ɐʉl.jɐʉ/
• 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, or more generally, a presentation of an individual's work samples and skills (a career portfolio).
4. (politics) The post and the responsibilities of a cabinet minister or other head of a government department. [from 1930s]

   Synonym: ministry

   • 2025 October 29, Mohamad Bazzi, “Jared Kushner is back – and so are big questions about his financial ties”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 October 2026:

     His [Jared Kushner's] portfolio extended to foreign policy, as he brokered a new North American trade agreement and negotiated peace deals in the Middle East.

6. (finance) The group of investments and other assets held by an investor. [from 1950s]
   • 2011 December 2, Patrick Collinson, “Terry Smith's investments have other fund managers on the ropes”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎^[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 October 2026:

     Behind his [Terry Smith's] success is a simple formula: buy shares in companies that make basic necessities – from toilet paper to nappies, baby food to pet food, soap to shampoo. […] It's why his portfolio of just 20 companies includes names such as Unilever […] and Imperial Tobacco (Lambert & Butler, Gauloises, John Player Special, Rizla).

   • 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, 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, (rarely) also liabilities.

   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.

   • 2024 August 18, Jörg Michael Dostal, “Left Conservatism: Sahra Wagenknecht's Challenge to the German Party System”, in The Political Quarterly, volume 95, number 4, →DOI, page 644 of 634–644:

     Promising to protect the welfare state while adding further obligations to its portfolio has become customary for SPD and Greens.

8. A range of products.

   product portfolio

• → Dutch: portfolio
• → Polish: portfolio
• → Portuguese: portfólio, portfolio (unadapted form, chiefly Portugal), portefólio (Portugal), portifólio (Brazil, misspelling)
• → Russian: портфо́лио (portfólio)
• → Ukrainian: портфо́ліо (portfólio)

• blad
• curriculum vitae
• repertoire

• portfolio on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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

• IPA^(key): /ˌpɔrtˈfoː.li.oː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: port‧fo‧lio
• Rhymes: -oːlioː

portfolio m or n (plural portfolio's, diminutive portfoliootje n)

1. portfolio (case for carrying papers, drawings, photographs, maps and other flat documents)
2. portfolio (collection of such documents, especially the works of an artist or photographer)
3. portfolio (group of investments and other assets held by an investor)

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “portfolio”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

Borrowed from English portfolio, ultimately from Italian portafoglio.

• IPA^(key): /ˈportfolio/, [ˈpo̞r.t̪fo̞ˌlio̞]
• Rhymes: -io
• Syllabification^(key): port‧fo‧li‧o
• 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]‎^[3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

Doublet of portefeuille.

• IPA^(key): /pɔʁt.fɔ.ljo/, /pɔʁt.fo.ljo/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -jo

portfolio m (plural portfolios)

1. portfolio

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

portfolio

Wikipedia ^pl

Borrowed from English portfolio, borrowed 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^[4] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “portfolio”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[5] (in Polish)