[pawrt-kuhl-is, pohrt-] 
| (esp. in medieval castles) a strong grating, as of iron, made to slide along vertical grooves at the sides of a gateway of a fortified place and let down to prevent passage. |
| port·cul·lis (pôrt-kŭl'ĭs, pōrt-) n. A grating of iron or wooden bars or slats, suspended in the gateway of a fortified place and lowered to block passage. [Middle English port-colice, from Old French porte coleice, sliding gate : porte, gate (from Latin porta; see per-2 in Indo-European roots) + coleice, feminine of coleis, sliding (from Vulgar Latin *cōlātīcius, from Latin cōlātus, past participle of cōlāre, to filter, strain, from cōlum, sieve).] |
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