port - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

The old port of Dubrovnik

Proto-Indo-European *per-

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Old English port

English port

From Old English port, borrowed from Latin portus (“port, harbour”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (“crossing”) (and thus a distant doublet of ford). The directional sense, attested since at least the 1500s, derives from ancient vessels with the steering oar on the right (see etymology of starboard), which therefore had to moor with their left sides facing the dock or wharf. Doublet of fjard, fjord, firth, ford, and Portus.

port (countable and uncountable, plural ports)

  1. A place on the coast at which ships can shelter, or dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.
    Synonyms: harbour, haven
    • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
      peering in maps for ports and piers and roads
    • 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:
      From the ground, Colombo's port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.
  2. A town or city containing such a place, a port city.
    Synonyms: harbour city, harbour town, port city
    • 2023 July 1, Mark Townsend, “‘We are seen as less human’: inside Marseille’s districts abandoned by the police”, in The Observer‎[1], →ISSN:
      More broadly, the port is seen as a litmus test for France; if its most multicultural city can foster vast Muslim enclaves viewed with broad suspicion or hostility by the police, then what hope is there elsewhere?
  3. (nautical, aviation, uncountable) The left-hand side of a vessel, including aircraft, when one is facing the front. Used to unambiguously refer to directions relative to the vessel structure, rather than to a person or object on board.
    Synonyms: backboard, larboard, leeboard, left
    Antonym: starboard
  4. (rowing) A sweep rower that primarily rows with an oar on the port side.
    Each eight has four ports and four starboards.

Nouns

Proper nouns

port (not comparable)

  1. (nautical) Of or relating to port, the left-hand side of a vessel when facing the bow.
    on the port side

port (third-person singular simple present ports, present participle porting, simple past and past participle ported)

  1. (nautical, transitive, chiefly imperative) To turn or put to the left or larboard side of a ship; said of the helm.
    Port your helm!
  2. (nautical) To dock at a port.
    • 2009 March 25, Metro International, Atlantic Free Daily Newspapers Inc., Metro Halifax - March 25, 2009‎[2]:
      The tall ships will port in Pugwash during its annual Harbourfest Celebrations […]
    • 2015, M.L. Brummett, Semper Fidelis‎[3]:
      We have to wait until the ship ports, buddy, and then we can get you the help you need.
    • 2017, Willian R. Stephenson, Conversations: Stories and Poems that Speak to Our Soul‎[4]:
      Our cruise ship ported at Mykonos, a small island off the coast of Greece, for an overnight stay.

to turn or put to the left or larboard side of a ship

Inherited from the Old English port, from the Latin porta (“passage, gate”), reinforced by the Old French porte. Doublet of porta.

port (plural ports)

  1. (now Scotland, historical) An entryway or gate.
    • 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, book X:
      And whan he cam to the porte of the pavelon, Sir Palomydes seyde an hyghe, ‘Where art thou, Sir Trystram de Lyones?’
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.1:
      Long were it to describe the goodly frame, / And stately port of Castle Joyeous […] .
    • 1667, Milton, Paradise Lost, book IV:
      And from their ivory port the Cherubim, / Forth issuing at the accustomed hour
  2. An opening or doorway in the side of a ship, especially for boarding or loading; an embrasure through which a cannon may be discharged; a porthole.
    • c. 1615, Sir W. Raleigh, A Discourse of the Invention of Ships, Anchors, Compass […] :
      […] her ports being within sixteen inches of the water […]
  3. (medicine) A small medical appliance installed beneath the skin, connected to a vein by a catheter, and used to inject drugs or to draw blood samples.
  4. (bowls, curling) A narrow opening between other players' bowls or stones wide enough for a delivered bowl or stone to pass through.
    Synonym: wick
  5. An opening where a connection (such as with a pipe) is made.
  6. An opening with a valve seat such that a valve can control the flow of fluid through the opening.
  7. (computing):
    1. A logical or physical construct in and from which data are transferred. Computer port on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
    2. A female connector of an electronic device, into which a cable's male connector can be inserted.
    3. (also networking) A number that delimits a connection for specific processes or parts of a network service.

From Old French porter, from Latin portāre (“carry”). Akin to transport, portable.

port (third-person singular simple present ports, present participle porting, simple past and past participle ported)

  1. (transitive) To carry, bear, bring, or transport. See porter.
    • 1567 February 8 (Gregorian calendar), John Pits, “The .100. Psalme”, in A Poore Mannes Beneuolence to the Afflicted Church, London: […] Alexander Lacy, signature [B.iv.], recto:
      Dauid in this Pſalme doth exhoꝛt, to pꝛayſe the Loꝛde alwayes: Foꝛ that he did vs make and poꝛt, and guydes vs all our dayes.
    • a. 1662 (date written), Thomas Fuller, “Shrop-shire”, in The History of the Worthies of England, London: […] J[ohn] G[rismond,] W[illiam] L[eybourne] and W[illiam] G[odbid], published 1662, →OCLC, page 1:
      What one may call River or Freſh-water-Coale, digged out in this Country, at ſuch a diſtance from Severne, that they are eaſily ported by Boat into other Shires.
    • 2001, Steven Johnson, “The Myth of the Ant Queen”, in Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, →ISBN, part 1, page 32:
      A handful of ants meander across each plank, some porting crumblike objects on their back, others apparently just out for a stroll.
  2. (transitive, military) To hold or carry (a weapon) with both hands so that it lies diagonally across the front of the body, with the barrel or similar part near the left shoulder and the right hand grasping the small of the stock; or, to throw (the weapon) into this position on command.
    Port arms!
  3. (transitive, computing, video games) To adapt, modify, or recode to work on a different platform.
    • 2022, Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Vintage (2023), page 259:
      By its tenth week of release, CPH was the best-selling PC game in America. PlayStation and Xbox ports were already in the works, and there was talk of porting it to Nintendo.
  4. (ergative, telephony) To carry or transfer (an existing telephone number) from one service provider to another.
    • 2011, Stephen P. Olejniczak, Telecom For Dummies, page 131:
      If you submit a request to port a number, and you list the name on the account as Bob Smith, but your local carrier has the number listed under your wife's name Mary Mahoney, the porting request is rejected.
  5. (US, government and law) To transfer a voucher or subsidy from one jurisdiction to another.

port (plural ports)

  1. Something used to carry a thing, especially a frame for wicks in candle-making.
  2. (archaic) The manner in which a person carries himself; bearing; deportment; carriage. See also portance.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.iii:
      Those same with stately grace, and princely port / She taught to tread, when she her selfe would grace […]
    • a. 1717 (date written), Robert South, “(please specify the sermon number)”, in Five Additional Volumes of Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions. […], volume (please specify |volume=VII to XI), London: […] Charles Bathurst, […], published 1744, →OCLC:
      the necessities of pomp, grandeur, and a suitable port in the world
    • 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:
      For the port, the voice, the smell, the hairdress, were seldom the same, from one day to the next, […]
  3. (military) The position of a weapon when ported; a rifle position executed by throwing the weapon diagonally across the front of the body, with the right hand grasping the small of the stock and the barrel sloping upward and crossing the point of the left shoulder.
  4. (computing) A program that has been adapted, modified, or recoded so that it works on a different platform; the act of this adapting.
    Gamers can't wait until a port of the title is released on the new system.
    The latest port of the database software is the worst since we made the changeover.
  5. (computing, BSD) A set of files used to build and install a binary executable file from the source code of an application.

computing: program adapted to work on a different platform; act of adapting

Named from Portuguese Porto, a city in Portugal where the wines were originally shipped from.

port (countable and uncountable, plural ports)

  1. A type of very sweet fortified wine, mostly dark red, traditionally made in Portugal.

fortified wine

Clipping of portmanteau.

port (plural ports)

  1. (Queensland) A suitcase or schoolbag.
    • 1964, George Johnston, My Brother Jack:
      No, she just paid up proper-like t' the end of the week, an' orf she went with 'er port, down t' the station, I suppose.
    • 2001, Sally de Dear, The House on Pig Island‎[5], page 8:
      As they left the classroom, Jennifer pointed at the shelves lining the veranda. “Put your port in there.”
      “What?” asked Penny.
      “Your port - your school bag, silly. It goes in there.”
    • 2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo, published 2012, page 53:
      How do you think the cane toads got into this pristine environment? Joseph Midnight brought them in his port from Townsville, smuggled them in, not that anyone was there to stop him.

Clipping of portfolio.

port (plural ports)

  1. (informal) The portfolio of a model or artist.
    • 2011, Debbie Rose Myers, The Graphic Designer's Guide to Portfolio Design, page 53:
      This is a logical way to order your work, but use it only if you're confident the first piece in your port is a strong one. Also note that this style of arrangement works best if all the pieces are in the same category.

port m (plural porte, definite porti, definite plural portet)

  1. port, harbor

Inherited from Old Catalan port, from Latin portus, from Proto-Italic *portus, from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (“crossing”), from *per- (“to go forth, to cross”).

port m (plural ports)

  1. port, harbour

From portar.

port m (plural ports)

  1. (rare or archaic) the action of carrying something from one place to another
  2. (rare) the volume a boat or another vehicle can carry

Clipping of English report.

port

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, transitive, informal) to file a complaint against; to report

From Old Norse portr m, port n, borrowed via Old English port m (“gate”) from Latin porta. Compare also German Pforte.

port c (singular definite porten, plural indefinite porte)

  1. gate
  2. gateway

Borrowed from French port.

port m or n (plural porten, no diminutive)

  1. postage

Borrowed from English port, from port wine. Named for Portuguese Porto, a city in Portugal where the wines were originally shipped from.

port m (uncountable, diminutive portje n)

  1. (a glass of) port, port wine, Porto

port

  1. inflection of porren:
    1. second/third-person singular present indicative
    2. (archaic) plural imperative

Inherited from Old French port, borrowed from Latin portus, from Proto-Italic *portus, from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (“crossing”), from *per- (“to go forth, to cross”).

port m (plural ports)

  1. port, harbour
  2. port, harbour city
  3. refuge
  4. transport
  5. postage
  6. poise, bearing, way of carrying oneself

Deverbal of porter. Ultimately from the same source as etymology 1 above.

port m (plural ports)

  1. wearing (act of wearing something)
  2. carrying (of an object)

port (plural portok)

  1. (computing) port

por +‎ -t

port

  1. accusative singular of por

Ultimately from Latin porta.

port n (genitive singular ports, nominative plural **port)

  1. gate, gateway, entryway
    Synonym: hlið

port (plural **port-port)

  1. nonstandard form of porta

Borrowed from Dutch port, from English port, from port wine. Named for Portuguese Porto, a city in Portugal where the wines were originally shipped from.

port (plural **port-port)

  1. (a glass of) port, port wine, Porto

From Old Irish port (“tune, melody”).

port m (genitive singular poirt, nominative plural poirt)

  1. (music) tune
    Is buaine port ná glór na n-éan; is buaine focal ná toice an tsaoil. (proverb)
    A tune is more lasting than the song of birds; a word is more lasting than the wealth of the world.
  2. jig (dance)

From Old Irish port (“bank, shore”),[1] borrowed from Latin portus (“harbour”).

port m (genitive singular poirt, nominative plural poirt)

  1. landing-place
  2. harbor, port
  3. bank (of river, etc.)
  4. mound, embankment
  5. refuge, haven, resort
  6. stopping-place
  7. place, locality
  8. fortified place, stronghold
  9. occupied place, seat, centre

Mutated forms of port

radical lenition eclipsis
port phort bport

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

  1. ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 port”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

From Latin portus.

port m (plural porc)

  1. port, harbour

Borrowed from Sicilian portu, from Latin portus.

port m (plural portijiet)

  1. harbour, port
    Synonym: (archaic) marsa

port (plural ports)

  1. behaviour, bearing

From Old French port, borrowed from Latin portus (“port, harbour”).

port m (plural ports)

  1. (Jersey) harbour, port
    Synonyms: caûchie, hâvre

From Middle Norwegian portr m, from late Old Norse portr m, port n, ultimately from Latin porta f.

port m (definite singular porten, indefinite plural porter, definite plural portene)

  1. a gate
  2. (computing) port (logical or physical construct in and from which data are transferred)
  3. (computing) port (female connector of an electronic device)

From Middle Norwegian portr m, from late Old Norse port n, ultimately from Latin porta f.

port m (definite singular porten, indefinite plural portar, definite plural portane)

  1. a gate
  2. (computing) port (logical or physical construct in and from which data are transferred)
  3. (computing) port (female connector of an electronic device)

Borrowed from Latin portus (“harbour, port, haven, warehouse”).

port m

  1. a port, a haven (a harbor or harbor-town)
  2. a town, particularly one with special trading privileges
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, "The Seven Sleepers"
      ...he wolde gan ut of ðam porte...
      ...he desired to go out of the town...
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, "The Seven Sleepers"
      nu ic wæs of þam rihtan wege mines ingeþances ac betere hit bið þæt ic eft fare ut of þysum porte ðylæs þe ic to swiðe dwelige and for-þy þonne ne cume to minum geferum þe me ær hyder sendon; gewislice ic her ongyten hæbbe þæt me hæfð gelæht fæste mines modes oferstige þæt ic nat na forgeare hu ic hit þus macige.
      Now I was in the right way in my inward thought, but better will it be that I go out of this town again lest I be too greatly bewildered, and so may not come to my comrades who erewhile sent me here; certainly I have here perceived that the over anxiety of my mind hath here seized me, so that I know not very certainly why I thus act.

Strong _a_-stem:

Borrowed from Latin porta (“gate, entrance, passage, door”).

port m

  1. portal (a door or gate; an entrance)

Strong _a_-stem:

Borrowed from Latin portus.

port oblique singular, m (oblique plural porz or portz, nominative singular porz or portz, nominative plural **port)

  1. port (for watercraft)
    • c. 1150, Turoldus, La Chanson de Roland:
      As porz d'Espaigne en est passet Rollant
      Roland went to the ports of Spain

Borrowed from Latin portus.

port m (genitive puirt, nominative plural puirt)

  1. place
  2. shore

Masculine o-stem

| | singular | dual | plural | | | ----------- | ----------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | nominative | port | portL | puirtL | | vocative | puirt | portL | portuH | | accusative | portN | portL | portuH | | genitive | puirtL | port | portN | | dative | purtL | portaib | portaib |

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

Mutation of port

radical lenition nasalization
port phortor unchanged portpronounced with /b-/

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Proto-Indo-European *per-

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Old Polish port

Learned borrowing from Latin portus. First attested in 1471.

port m animacy unattested

  1. port (a place on the coast at which ships can shelter, or dock to load and unload cargo or passengers)
    • 1901 [1471], Materiały i Prace Komisji Językowej Akademii Umiejętności w Krakowie, volume V, page 135:
      Applicuimus przistalischmy kv portu (inde navigantes... applicuimus Samum Act 20, 15)
      [Applicuimus przystalismy ku portu (inde navigantes... applicuimus Samum Act 20, 15)]

Inherited from Old Polish port. Sense 4 and sense 5 are semantic loans from English port. Doublet of fiord (“fjord”).

port m inan (diminutive porcik, related adjective portowy)

  1. port (a place on the coast at which ships can shelter, or dock to load and unload cargo or passengers)
  2. port (a town or city containing such a place, a port city)
  3. harbor, haven (place of safety)
    Synonyms: azyl, przystań, schronienie
  4. (computing) port (logical or physical construct in and from which data are transferred)
  5. (computing, networking) port (number that delimits a connection for specific processes or parts of a network service)
  6. (Middle Polish) goal, aim (intent of one's actions)
    Synonym: cel
  7. (Middle Polish) harbor, haven (one who gives a place of safety)
  8. (Middle Polish) gate (place where one enters)
    Synonym: wrote
  9. (Middle Polish) warehouse
    Synonyms: magazyn, skład
  10. (Middle Polish) a type of tax
  11. (Middle Polish) papal estate; Further details are uncertain.

Borrowed from French port, Italian porto, Latin portus.

port n (plural porturi)

  1. port (town with port)

port

  1. first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of purta

From Old Irish port (“tune, melody”).

port m (genitive singular puirt, plural puirt or portan)

  1. tune

From Old Irish port (“bank, shore (of river or sea); landing-place, haven; bank, mound, entrenchment; place, spot, locality; stead, abode; stronghold, fortress”), ultimately from Latin portus (“harbour, port; haven, refuge, asylum, retreat”).

port m (genitive singular puirt, plural puirt or portan)

  1. port, harbour

Mutation of port

radical lenition
port phort

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

An entrance leading to the stairwell of an apartment building.

The castle gate of Malmö Castle.

From late Old Norse port n, portr m, from Latin porta f. Computing sense a semantic loan from English.

port c

  1. a larger entrance
    1. a (robust) door leading into a larger building, like for example an apartment building
      Jag är vid porten, kan du öppna?
      I'm at the door, can you buzz me in?
      • 1982, Adolphson & Falk, “Stockholmsserenad [Stockholm Serenade]”, in Med rymden i blodet [With [the] (Outer) Space in the Blood]‎[11]:
        Det hörs ett vrål ifrån tusen kubik, men för Jonny själv är det ljuvlig musik, som en frihetssång, genom nattens trafik mot en soluppgång. Intill en port väntar Cathrine med sin syntpop och sin avmätta min. Men hon tinar upp när Jonnys maskin vrålar ut sin sång, att natten är lång.
        There's [it is heard] a roar from a thousand cc, but to Jonny himself, it's a sweet melody [lovely music], like a freedom song, through the night-time traffic towards a sunrise. Next to a [more robust] door [to an apartment building or the like], Cathrine waits with her synth-pop and her chilly [facial] expression. But she thaws out when Jonny's machine roars out its song, that the night is long.
    2. a doorway
    3. a gate
    4. a portal
  2. (computing) a port (logical or physical construct in and from which data are transferred)

A non-solid gate, like a grid or mesh gate, is a grind.

Clipping of portvin.

port ?

  1. clipping of portvin (“port wine”)
    Synonym: porto (obsolete)

Borrowed from English port.

port (definite accusative portu, plural portlar)

  1. (computer hardware, networking) port