Share, n.
Etymology: [OE. share, AS. scearu, scaru, fr. sceran to shear, cut. See Shear, v.]
1. A certain quantity; a portion; a part; a division; as, a small share of prudence.
2. Especially, the part allotted or belonging to one, of any property or interest owned by a number; a portion among others; an apportioned lot; an allotment; a dividend. "My share of fame." Dryden.
3. Hence, one of a certain number of equal portions into which any property or invested capital is divided; as, a ship owned in ten shares.
4. The pubes; the sharebone. [Obs.] Holland. To go shares, to partake; to be equally concerned. -- Share and share alike, in equal shares.
3 other Webster entries under this spelling
Share, n.
1. The part (usually an iron or steel plate) of a plow which cuts the ground at the bottom of a furrow; a plowshare.
2. The part which opens the ground for the reception of the seed, in a machine for sowing seed. Knight.
Share, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shared; p. pr. & vb. n. Sharing.]
1. To part among two or more; to distribute in portions; to divide. Suppose I share my fortune equally between my children and a stranger. Swift.
2. To partake of, use, or experience, with others; to have a portion of; to take and possess in common; as, to share a shelter with another. While avarice and rapine share the land. Milton.
3. To cut; to shear; to cleave; to divide. [Obs.] The shared visage hangs on equal sides. Dryden.
Share, v. i.
To have part; to receive a portion; to partake, enjoy, or suffer with others. A right of inheritance gave every one a title to share in the goods of his father. Locke.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for share; he lists it under apportion, part, portion.
Where he writes about it:
A portion is a part viewed with reference to some one who is to receive it or some special purpose to which it is to be applied; in a restaurant one portion (i. e., the amount designed for one person) is sometimes, by special order, served to two; a share is a part to which one has or may acquire a right in connection with others; an instalment is one of a series of proportionate payments that are to be continued till the entire claim is discharged; a particle is an exceedingly small part. — from part