port1
n.
a town or city with a harbour or access to navigable water where ships load or unload.
▸a harbour.
Phrase
- port of call
a place where a ship or person stops on a journey. - port of entry
a harbour or airport where customs officers are stationed to oversee passengers and goods entering or leaving a country.
Etymology
OE, from L. portus ‘harbour’.
port2
n.
a sweet dark red (occasionally brown or white) fortified wine, originally from Portugal.
Etymology
shortened form of Oporto, a port in Portugal from which the wine is shipped.
port3
n.
the side of a ship or aircraft that is on the left when one is facing forward. The opposite of
starboard.
v.
turn (a ship or its helm) to port.
Etymology
C16: prob. orig. the side containing an entry port or facing the port (quayside) for loading.
port4
n.
- an opening in the side of a ship for boarding or loading.
▸a porthole.
- an opening for the passage of steam, liquid, or gas.
-
(also gun port)
an opening in the body of an aircraft or in a wall or armoured vehicle through which a gun may be fired.
- Electronics a socket in a computer network into which a device can be plugged.
- chiefly Scottish a gate or gateway, especially into a walled city.
Etymology
OE, from L. porta ‘gate’.
port5
v.
- Computing transfer (software) from one system or machine to another.
- Military carry (a rifle or other weapon) diagonally across and close to the body with the barrel or blade near the left shoulder.
n.
- Military the position required by an order to port a weapon.
- literary a person's carriage or bearing.
- Computing an instance of porting software.
Etymology
ME: from OFr. port ‘bearing, gait’, from porter, from L. portare ‘carry’.
port6
n.
Austral. informal a suitcase or travelling bag.
Etymology
C19: abbrev. of portmanteau.
