quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- porter (n.1)



[porter 词源字典] - "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)).[porter etymology, porter origin, 英语词源]
- porter (n.2)




- "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)).
- porter (n.3)




- 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.
- porterhouse (n.)




- also porter-house, "restaurant or chophouse where porter is served," 1754, from porter (n.3) + house (n.). Porterhouse steak (1841) is said to be from a particular establishment in New York City.
- portfolio (n.)




- 1722, porto folio; 1719 as port folio, from Italian portafoglio "a case for carrying loose papers," from porta, imperative of portare "to carry" (see port (n.1)) + foglio "sheet, leaf," from Latin folium (see folio). Meaning "official documents of a state department" is from 1835. A minister without portfolio is one not in charge of a particular department. Meaning "collection of securities held" is from 1930; portfolio investment is from 1955.
- porthole (n.)




- also port-hole, 1590s, from port (n.2) + hole (n.).
- portico (n.)




- c. 1600, from Italian portico, from Latin porticus "colonnade, arcade, covered walk, porch," from porta "gate" (see port (n.1)). Especially of the Painted Porch in Athens.
- portiere (n.)




- door curtain, 1843, from French portière, from Medieval Latin portaria, fem. singular of Latin portarius "belonging to a door or gate" (see porter (n.2)).
- portion (n.)




- early 14c., "allotted part, share," from Old French porcion "part, portion" (12c., Modern French portion) and directly from Latin portionem (nominative portio) "share, part," accusative of the noun in the phrase pro portione "according to the relation (of parts to each other)" (see proportion). From late 14c. in general sense of "section into which something is divided."
- portion (v.)




- "to divide in portions," early 14c., from Old French porcioner "share out, divide in portions," from porcion (see portion (n.)). Related: Portioned; portioning.
- Portland




- in Portland cement, 1720, named by its inventor, English mason Joseph Aspdin, from resemblance of the color to the stone of Portland peninsula on the coast of Dorsetshire. The place name is literally "land surrounding a harbor," Old English Portlanda. Portland, Maine, U.S.A., took its name 1786, for the place in England. Portland, Oregon, was said to have been named for the city in Maine, which won the honor by a coin toss over Boston.
- portly (adj.)




- early 15c., "stately, dignified," from port (n.3) "bearing, carriage" + -ly (1). Meaning "stout" is first recorded 1590s.
- portmanteau (n.)




- 1580s, "traveling case or bag for clothes and other necessaries," from Middle French portemanteau "traveling bag," originally "court official who carried a prince's mantle" (1540s), from porte, imperative of porter "to carry" (see porter (n.1)) + manteau "cloak" (see mantle (n.)).
Portmanteau word "word blending the sound of two different words" (1882), coined by "Lewis Carroll" (Charles L. Dodgson, 1832-1898) for the sort of words he invented for "Jabberwocky," on notion of "two meanings packed up into one word." As a noun in this sense from 1872. - portobello




- type of mushroom, by 1986, no agreed-upon theory accounts for the name, which seems to be a marketing coinage. London's Portobello Road (one suggested source of the mushroom name) originally was the lane to Porto Bello House, named for the Panamanian place captured by the British under Vernon in 1739.
- portrait (n.)




- 1560s, "a figure, drawn or painted," a back formation from portraiture or directly from Middle French portrait, from Old French portret (13c.), noun use of past participle of portraire "to paint, depict" (see portray). Especially of the head and face of a person.
- portraiture (n.)




- mid-14c., from Old French portraiture "portrait, image, portrayal, resemblance" (12c.), from portrait (see portrait).
- portray (v.)




- mid-13c., "to draw, paint" (something), from Anglo-French purtraire, Old French portraire "to draw, to paint, portray" (12c.), literally "trace, draw forth," from por- "forth" (from Latin pro-; see pro-) + traire "trace, draw," from Latin trahere "to drag, draw" (see tract (n.1)). Meaning "depict in words, describe" is from late 14c. Related: Portrayed; portraying.
- portrayal (n.)




- 1834, from portray + -al (2). The idea formerly was expressed by portray (n.), 1610s.
- portsider (n.)




- "left-handed person," 1913, American English baseball slang, from port (n.1) in the nautical sense + side (n.).
- Portugal




- late 14c., Portyngale, from Medieval Latin Portus Cale (Roman name of modern Oporto), "the port of Gaya." Alfonso, Count of Portucale, became the first king of Portugal.