- the relationship between two groups of people or things that is represented by two numbers showing how much larger one group is than the other
- The school has a very high teacher-student ratio.
- ratio of A to B What is the ratio of men to women in the department?
- The ratio of applications to available places currently stands at 100:1.
Extra ExamplesTopics Maths and measurementc1- Staffing ratios were generally better in smaller hospitals.
- The hospital is trying to improve its staff/patient ratio.
- The stock's price-earnings ratio has dropped to 24.
- They have a high ratio of imports to exports.
- Waist-to-hip ratios vary according to body type.
- We mixed the oil and water in a ratio of one to five.
- the ratio between the amount of time spent on the work and the profit produced
- the ratio of house prices to incomes
- the worsening pupil/teacher ratio in our schools
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- high
- low
- gender
- …
- achieve
- have
- improve
- …
- improve
- worsen
- differ
- …
- in a/the ratio
- ratio between
- ratio of something to something
- …
Word Originmid 17th cent.: from Latin, literally ‘reckoning’, from rat- ‘reckoned’, from the verb reri.
Check pronunciation:
ratio