porter1

[pawr-ter, pohr-] /ˈpɔr tər, ˈpoʊr-/
noun
1.
a person hired to carry burdens or baggage, as at a railroad station or a hotel.
2.
a person who does cleaning and maintenance work in a building, factory, store, etc.
3.
an attendant in a railroad parlor car or sleeping car.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English, variant of portour < Middle French porteour < Late Latin portātōr- (stem of portātor). See port5, -or2

porter2

[pawr-ter, pohr-] /ˈpɔr tər, ˈpoʊr-/
noun
1.
a person who has charge of a door or gate; doorkeeper.
2.
Roman Catholic Church, ostiary (def 1).
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English < Anglo-French < Late Latin portārius gatekeeper. See port4, -er2

porter3

[pawr-ter, pohr-] /ˈpɔr tər, ˈpoʊr-/
noun
1.
a heavy, dark-brown ale made with malt browned by drying at a high temperature.
Origin
1720-30; short for porter's ale, apparently orig. brewed for porters

Porter

[pawr-ter, pohr-] /ˈpɔr tər, ˈpoʊr-/
noun
1.
Cole, 1893–1964, U.S. composer.
2.
David, 1780–1843, U.S. naval officer.
3.
his son, David Dixon
[dik-suh n] /ˈdɪk sən/ (Show IPA), 1813–91, Union naval officer in the Civil War.
4.
Edwin Stanton, 1870–1941, U.S. film director.
5.
Gene (Gene Stratton Porter) 1868–1924, U.S. novelist.
6.
Sir George, 1920–2002, British chemist: Nobel prize 1967.
7.
Katherine Anne, 1890–1980, U.S. writer.
8.
Noah, 1811–92, U.S. educator, writer, and lexicographer.
9.
Rodney Robert, 1917–85, British biochemist: Nobel Prize in medicine 1972.
10.
William Sydney ("O. Henry") 1862–1910, U.S. short-story writer.
11.
a male given name.

port2

[pawrt, pohrt] /pɔrt, poʊrt/
noun
1.
the left-hand side of a vessel or aircraft, facing forward.
adjective
2.
pertaining to or designating port.
3.
located on the left side of a vessel or aircraft.
verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
4.
to turn or shift to the port, or left, side.
Origin
1570-80; special use of port4
British Dictionary definitions for porter

porter1

/ˈpɔːtə/
noun
1.
a person employed to carry luggage, parcels, supplies, etc, esp at a railway station or hotel
2.
(in hospitals) a person employed to move patients from place to place
3.
(US & Canadian) a railway employee who waits on passengers, esp in a sleeper
4.
(E African) a manual labourer
Word Origin
C14: from Old French portour, from Late Latin portātōr, from Latin portāre to carry

porter2

/ˈpɔːtə/
noun
1.
(mainly Brit) a person in charge of a gate or door; doorman or gatekeeper
2.
a person employed by a university or college as a caretaker and doorkeeper who also answers enquiries
3.
a person in charge of the maintenance of a building, esp a block of flats
4.
(RC Church) Also called ostiary. a person ordained to what was formerly the lowest in rank of the minor orders
Word Origin
C13: from Old French portier, from Late Latin portārius doorkeeper, from Latin porta door

porter3

/ˈpɔːtə/
noun
1.
(Brit) a dark sweet ale brewed from black malt
Word Origin
C18: shortened from porter's ale, apparently because it was a favourite beverage of porters

Porter

/ˈpɔːtə/
noun
1.
Cole. 1893–1964, US composer and lyricist of musical comedies. His most popular songs include Night and Day and Let's do It
2.
George, Baron Porter of Luddenham. 1920–2002, British chemist, who shared a Nobel prize for chemistry in 1967 for his work on flash photolysis
3.
Katherine Anne. 1890–1980, US short-story writer and novelist. Her best-known collections of stories are Flowering Judas (1930) and Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1939)
4.
Rodney Robert. 1917–85, British biochemist: shared the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine 1972 for determining the structure of an antibody
5.
William Sidney. original name of O. Henry

port1

/pɔːt/
noun
1.
a town or place alongside navigable water with facilities for the loading and unloading of ships
2.
See port of entry
Word Origin
Old English, from Latin portus harbour, port

port2

/pɔːt/
noun
1.
Also called (formerly) larboard
  1. the left side of an aircraft or vessel when facing the nose or bow
  2. (as modifier): the port bow Compare starboard (sense 1)
verb
2.
to turn or be turned towards the port
Word Origin
C17: origin uncertain

port3

/pɔːt/
noun
1.
a sweet fortified dessert wine
Word Origin
C17: after Oporto, Portugal, from where it came originally

port4

/pɔːt/
noun
1.
(nautical)
  1. an opening in the side of a ship, fitted with a watertight door, for access to the holds
  2. See porthole (sense 1)
2.
a small opening in a wall, armoured vehicle, etc, for firing through
3.
an aperture, esp one controlled by a valve, by which fluid enters or leaves the cylinder head of an engine, compressor, etc
4.
(electronics) a logic circuit for the input and ouput of data
5.
(mainly Scot) a gate or portal in a town or fortress
Word Origin
Old English, from Latin porta gate

port5

/pɔːt/
verb
1.
(transitive) to carry (a rifle, etc) in a position diagonally across the body with the muzzle near the left shoulder
noun
2.
this position
Word Origin
C14: from Old French, from porter to carry, from Latin portāre

port6

/pɔːt/
verb
1.
(transitive) (computing) to change (programs) from one system to another
Word Origin
C20: probably from port4

port7

/pɔːt/
noun
1.
(Austral) (esp in Queensland) a suitcase or school case
Word Origin
C20: shortened from portmanteau
Word Origin and History for porter
n.

"person who carries," late 14c. (mid-13c. as a surname), from Anglo-French portour, Old French porteor "porter, bearer; reporter" (12c.), from Late Latin portatorem (nominative portator) "carrier, one who carries," from past participle stem of Latin portare "to carry" (see port (n.1)).

"doorkeeper, janitor," mid-13c. (late 12c. as a surname), from Anglo-French portour, Old French portier "gatekeeper" (12c.), from Late Latin portarius "gatekeeper," from Latin porta "gate" (see port (n.2)).

type of dark beer, 1734, short for porter's ale (1721), from porter (n.1), because the beer was made for or preferred by porters and other laborers, being cheap and strong.

port

n.

"harbor," Old English port "harbor, haven," reinforced by Old French port "harbor, port; mountain pass;" Old English and Old French words both from Latin portus "port, harbor," originally "entrance, passage," figuratively "place of refuge, assylum," from PIE *prtu- "a going, a passage," from root *per- (2) "to lead, pass over" (cf. Sanskrit parayati "carries over;" Greek poros "journey, passage, way," peirein "to pierce, run through;" Latin porta "gate, door," portare "passage," peritus "experienced;" Avestan peretush "passage, ford, bridge;" Armenian hordan "go forward;" Welsh rhyd "ford;" Old Church Slavonic pariti "to fly;" Old English faran "to go, journey," Old Norse fjörðr "inlet, estuary").

Meaning "left side of a ship" (looking forward from the stern) is attested from 1540s, from notion of "the side facing the harbor" (when a ship is docked). It replaced larboard in common usage to avoid confusion with starboard; officially so by Admiralty order of 1844 and U.S. Navy Department notice of 1846. Figurative sense "place of refuge" is attested from early 15c.; phrase any port in a storm first recorded 1749. A port of call (1810) is one paid a scheduled visit by a ship.

"gateway," Old English port "portal, door, gate, entrance," from Old French porte "gate, entrance," from Latin porta "city gate, gate; door, entrance," from PIE root *per- (see port (n.1)). Specific meaning "porthole, opening in the side of a ship" is attested from c.1300.

"bearing, mien," c.1300, from Old French port, from porter "to carry," from Latin portare (see port (n.1)).

type of sweet dark-red wine, 1690s, shortened from Oporto, city in northwest Portugal from which the wine originally was shipped to England; from O Porto "the port;" (see port (n.1)).

v.

"to carry," from Middle French porter, from Latin portare "to carry" (see port (n.1)). Related: Ported; porting.

porter in Medicine

Porter Por·ter (pôr'tər), Rodney Robert. Born 1917.

British biochemist. He shared a 1972 Nobel Prize for his research on the chemical structure and nature of antibodies.

porter in Science
port
  (pôrt)   

  1. An opening, as in a cylinder or valve face, for the passage of steam or fluid.

  2. A place where data can pass into or out of a central processing unit, computer, or peripheral. With central processing units, a port is a fixed set of connections for incoming and outgoing data or instructions. With computers and peripherals, a port is generally a socket into which a connector can be plugged.


Porter
  (pôr'tər)   
British biochemist who shared with George Edelman the 1972 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for their study of the chemical structure of antibodies.
porter in the Bible

a gate-keeper (2 Sam. 18:26; 2 Kings 7:10; 1 Chr. 9:21; 2 Chr. 8:14). Of the Levites, 4,000 were appointed as porters by David (1 Chr. 23:5), who were arranged according to their families (26:1-19) to take charge of the doors and gates of the temple. They were sometimes employed as musicians (1 Chr. 15:18).

Idioms and Phrases with porter

port

see: any port in a storm