porch

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pɔːtʃ/ (UK); /pɔɹt͡ʃ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English porche, borrowed from Old French porche (“porch, vestibule”),^[2][3][4] from Latin porticus (“colonnade, covered walk, porch”),^[2][3][5] from porta (“gate, entrance”) (see port),^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to lead, pass over”).^[3] It is a doublet of portico.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A covered entrance to a building: about 1290 in the OED, about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline.^[6][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The Latin word had been borrowed directly into Old English as portic.^[3] A colonnade or portico is from about 1420,^[6] and the Porch, the Painted Stoa of Athens, stands for the Stoic school from the 17th century.^[4][6] In the north of England a transept or side chapel was called a porch from 1522.^[6] In the United States it has been used by 1832 for what the British call a veranda.^[3][6][7]

Timeline

• c. 1290 – a covered entrance.^[6]
• c. 1420 – a colonnade.^[6]
• 1522 – a side chapel (north of England).^[6]
• 1832 – a veranda (US).^[3][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A covered shelter projecting from the entrance of a building.
2. (US, Canada) A veranda, open or partly enclosed.

Word family

• porchless
• porchlike
• sunporch

Related words

• portico
• port
• portal
• porter

Usage notes

In West Yorkshire mining, a porch was the arch at the bottom of a colliery shaft;^[8][6] in Hertfordshire dialect, to porch meant to roam or ramble.^[8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)