Etymologically
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porta

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpɔr.ta][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɔr.ta][1]

Forms

porta f (genitive portae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *portā- (“gate, door”), probably the feminine of a PIE participle Proto-Indo-European *pr-to- (“passed, crossed”).[2] The verb portāre and portus “harbour” come from the same root, Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to bring through”).[2][3]

Cognate with Oscan púrtam (“gate”), and through portus with Avestan pərətu- (“crossing, bridge”) and Old English ford.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards.[2] In Plautus a house is “the seventh from the gate”.[3] Köbler's first source is Ennius (204–169 BC).[4]

Semantic evolution

It was the gate of a city or a camp, then any entrance or outlet, as the gap through which the winds rush out in Virgil.[3] Figuratively it meant a way or means.[1]

Isidore explained it as the place through which things are brought in and out.[5] In medieval monasteries it was the guest service, and also a mill-race.[6] Romance languages kept it, as Italian porta and Spanish puerta.[1] English portal comes from its Medieval Latin derivative portāle.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a city gate.[3][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of an opening for the winds.[3][4]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore explains its name.[5][4]
  • late 14th century – English portal comes from Medieval Latin portāle.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A gate, especially of a city or camp.[3][1]
  2. An entrance, opening, outlet.[3][1]
  3. A way, means.[1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) The guest service of a monastery; a mill-race.[6]

Word family

  • portārius
  • portella
  • porticula
  • porticus
  • portula
  • portus
  • portō
  • portōrium
  • English portal
  • English port

Usage notes

Georges says porta is a gate on land, as opposed to portus, a harbour.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn