porte

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pɔʁt/^[1]

Forms

porte f (plural portes)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French porte, inherited from Latin porta (“gate”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Latin word meant first “passage”, then the gate under a city wall, as opposed to forēs, the door of a house; that distinction disappeared, and “porta” replaced “forēs” in the Romance languages.^[2][3] A masculine doublet portus kept only the sense “harbour”, whence port.^[3][2]

Rey connects it with the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to cross”).^[3][1] Cognate with Italian porta, Occitan porta and Spanish puerta.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

At the end of the 10th century the Passion of Clermont speaks of la porta de la ciptat “the gate of the city”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In 1080 the Chanson de Roland already uses it for the door of a closed place, the gate of paradise, and by 1176–81 Chrétien de Troyes has porte d'une meison; in this sense it slowly displaced Old French huis.^[2][3] In 1155 it named the panel that closes the opening.^[2]

Many phrases followed: de porte en porte (1480), mettre à la porte (1690), porte à porte (1694), écouter aux portes (1727).^[2][3] Figurative uses appear from 1568, as in ouvrir la porte à.^[2] From 1538 la Porte, later la Sublime Porte, was the Ottoman court.^[2] Place names keep the old city gates: la porte Saint-Antoine (1658).^[2][3] In skiing a porte is the space between two poles (1937).^[2]

Timeline

• Late 10th century – Porta de la ciptat in the Passion of Clermont.^[2]
• c. 1100 – The gate of paradise, in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• 1155 – The door panel, in Wace.^[2]
• 1176–1181 – Porte d'une meison in Chrétien de Troyes.^[2]
• 1314 – Veine porte in Mondeville.^[7][8]
• 1538 – Porte, the Ottoman court.^[2]
• 1676 – Porte-fenêtre.^[2][4]
• 1690 – Mettre quelqu'un à la porte.^[2]
• 1937 – A gate in slalom skiing.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A door, doorway: ouvrir la porte, porte d'entrée.^[9][1]
2. A city gate; a monument or place keeping its name: la porte Saint-Denis.^[9][10]
3. The door of a vehicle or of furniture: porte d'un four.^[2]
4. (figurative) A way in, means of access: ouvrir la porte à.^[1][2]
5. A boarding gate at an airport.^[1]
6. (skiing) A gate between two poles.^[2]
7. Mettre à la porte: to throw out, dismiss.^[2][1]

Word family

• portier
• portière
• portail
• porte-fenêtre

Related words

• huis
• port
• Latin porta

Usage notes

In anatomy veine porte (1314), the vein carrying blood from the digestive organs to the liver, uses the same word as an adjective, the vein being compared to a door.^[7][9][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 198b
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)