FromOld Englishport, borrowed fromLatinportus(“port, harbour”), ultimately fromProto-Indo-European*pértus(“crossing”) (and thus a distant doublet offord). The directional sense, attested since at least the 1500s, derives from ancient vessels with the steering oar on the right (see etymology ofstarboard), which therefore had to moor with their left sides facing the dock or wharf.Doublet offjard,fjord,firth,ford, andPortus.
From the ground, Colombo'sport 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 theport after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.
A town or city containing such a place, aport city.
2023 July 1, Mark Townsend, “‘We are seen as less human’: inside Marseille’s districts abandoned by the police”, inThe Observer[1],→ISSN:
More broadly, theport 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?
(nautical,aviation,uncountable) The left-hand side of avessel, 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.
1567 February 8 (Gregorian calendar), John Pits, “The .100. Psalme”, inA 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 andpoꝛt, and guydes vs all our dayes.
a.1662 (date written),Thomas Fuller, “Shrop-shire”, inThe History of the Worthies of England, London:[…] J[ohn] G[rismond,] W[illiam] L[eybourne] and W[illiam] G[odbid], published1662,→OCLC,page 1:
What one may callRiver orFreſh-water-Coale, digged out in this Country, at ſuch a diſtance fromSeverne, that they are eaſilyported by Boat into other Shires.
A handful of ants meander across each plank, someporting crumblike objects on their back, others apparently just out for a stroll.
(transitive,military) To hold or carry (aweapon) with both hands so that it lies diagonally across the front of the body, with thebarrel 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.
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 ofporting it to Nintendo.
2011, Stephen P. Olejniczak,Telecom For Dummies, page131:
If you submit a request toport 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.
Those same with stately grace, and princelyport / She taught to tread, when she her selfe would grace[…]
a.1717 (date written),Robert South, “(please specify the sermon number)”, inFive Additional Volumes of Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions.[…], volume(please specify |volume=VII to XI), London:[…] Charles Bathurst,[…], published1744,→OCLC:
the necessities of pomp, grandeur, and a suitableport in the world
For theport, the voice, the smell, the hairdress, were seldom the same, from one day to the next,[…]
(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.
No, she just paid up proper-like t' the end of the week, an' orf she went with 'erport, 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 yourport in there.” “What?” asked Penny. “Yourport - your school bag, silly. It goes in there.”
How do you think the cane toads got into this pristine environment? Joseph Midnight brought them in hisport from Townsville, smuggled them in, not that anyone was there to stop him.
2011, Debbie Rose Myers,The Graphic Designer's Guide to Portfolio Design, page53:
This is a logical way to order your work, but use it only if you're confident the first piece in yourport is a strong one. Also note that this style of arrangement works best if all the pieces are in the same category.
nu ic wæs of þam rihtan wege mines ingeþances ac betere hit bið þæt ic eft fare ut of þysumporte 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 thistown 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.
Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000), “port”, inEtymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
B. Sieradzka-Baziur,Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “port”, inSłownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków:IJP PAN,→ISBN
“PORT”, inElektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century],01.10.2019
