Porter definition | Dictionary.com

por⋅ter

1 [pawr-ter, pohr-]

–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; ME, var. of portour < MF porteour < LL portātōr- (s. of portātor). See port ⁵ , -or ²

por⋅ter

2 [pawr-ter, pohr-]

–noun

1.	a person who has charge of a door or gate; doorkeeper.

2.	Roman Catholic Church. ostiary (def. 1).

Origin:
1250–1300; ME < AF < LL portārius gatekeeper. See port ⁴ , -er ²

por⋅ter

3 [pawr-ter, pohr-]

–noun

a heavy, dark-brown ale made with malt browned by drying at a high temperature.

Origin:
1720–30; short for porter's ale, appar. orig. brewed for porters

Por⋅ter

[pawr-ter, pohr-]

–noun

1.	Cole, 1893–1964, U.S. composer.

2.	David, 1780–1843, U.S. naval officer.

3.	his son, David Dix⋅on [dik-suhn] 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 for medicine 1972.

10.	William Sydney (“O. Henry”), 1862–1910, U.S. short-story writer.

11.	a male given name.

port

2 [pawrt, pohrt]

–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 port ⁴

os⋅ti⋅ar⋅y

[os-tee-er-ee]

–noun, plural -ar⋅ies.

Also called doorkeeper, porter. Roman Catholic Church.

a.	a member of the lowest-ranking of the four minor orders.

b.	the order itself. Compare acolyte (def. 2), exorcist (def. 2), lector (def. 2).

2.	a doorkeeper, as of a church.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME hostiary < L ōstiārius doorkeeper, equiv. to ōsti(um) door, entrance (see ostium ) + -ārius -ary

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To Porter

por·ter¹ (pôr'tər, pōr'-)

A person employed to carry burdens, especially an attendant who carries travelers' baggage at a hotel or transportation station.
A railroad employee who waits on passengers in a sleeping car or parlor car.
A maintenance worker for a building or institution.

[Middle English portour, from Anglo-Norman, from Late Latin portātor, from Latin portāre, to carry; see per-² in Indo-European roots.]

por·ter² (pôr'tər, pōr'-)

n. Chiefly British
One in charge of a gate or door.

[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman, from Late Latin portārius, from Latin porta, gate; see per-² in Indo-European roots.]

por·ter³ (pôr'tər, pōr'-)

n. A dark beer resembling light stout, made from malt browned or charred by drying at a high temperature.

[Short for porter's ale.]

Por·ter (pôr'tər, pōr'-)

American composer and lyricist remembered for his witty and sophisticated Broadway scores for musicals such as Anything Goes (1929).

Porter, Edwin Stanton 1869-1941.
American filmmaker whose works include the first edited film, The Life of an American Fireman and The Great Train Robbery (both 1903).

Porter, Katherine Anne 1890-1980.
American writer known for her carefully crafted short stories as well as her novel Ship of Fools (1962). She won a Pulitzer Prize for her Collected Stories (1965).

Porter, Rodney Robert 1917-1985.
British biochemist. He shared a 1972 Nobel Prize for research on the chemical structure and nature of antibodies.

Porter, William Sydney Pen name O. Henry 1862-1910.
American writer whose short stories are collected in a number of volumes, including Cabbages and Kings (1904) and The Four Million (1906).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Porter

Por"ter\, n. [F. portier, L. portarius, from porta a gate, door. See Port a gate.] A man who has charge of a door or gate; a doorkeeper; one who waits at the door to receive messages. --Shak.

To him the porter openeth. --John x. 3.

Porter

Por"ter\, n. [F. porteur, fr. porter to carry, L. portare. See Port to carry.]

1. A carrier; one who carries or conveys burdens, luggage, etc.; for hire.

2. (Forging) A bar of iron or steel at the end of which a forging is made; esp., a long, large bar, to the end of which a heavy forging is attached, and by means of which the forging is lifted and handled in hammering and heating; -- called also porter bar.

3. A malt liquor, of a dark color and moderately bitter taste, possessing tonic and intoxicating qualities.

Note: Porter is said to be so called as having been first used chiefly by the London porters, and this application of the word is supposed to be not older than 1750.

Language Translation for : Porter

Spanish: mozo de equipajes, maletero,

German: der Gepäckträger,

Japanese: 赤帽

More Translations »

porter (1)

"person who carries," 1263, from Anglo-Fr. portour, O.Fr. porteor, from L.L. portatorem (acc. portator) "one who carries," from L. portare "to carry" (see port (1)).

porter (2)

"doorkeeper, janitor," 1180s, from Anglo-Fr. portour, from O.Fr. portier, from L.L. portarius "gatekeeper," from L. porta "gate" (see port (2)).

porter (3)

"dark beer," 1727, as porter's ale, from porter (1), because the beer was made for porters and other laborers, being cheap and strong.

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 (pôr'tər) Pronunciation Key
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

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).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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