Just over half of paratroopers punished proportionately (3,4)
I believe the answer is:
pro rata
'proportionately' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'just over half of paratroopers' is the wordplay.
'just' indicates an anagram (I've seen this in other clues).
'over' becomes 'o' (cricket abbreviation).
'half of' means to take half the letters.
'paratroopers' with half the letters taken is 'paratr'.
'o'+'paratr'='oparatr'
'oparatr' is an anagram of 'PRO RATA'.
'punished' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pro rata that I've seen before include "In proportion (Latin)" , "Proportional, according to the rate" , "Proportionally" , "fairly divided" , "Proportionately based" .)