Etymologically
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portalis

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Forms

portālis (neuter portāle); third-declension adjective[1] As a noun, portāle n, with the variants portallum and portellus.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin porta (“gate”), with the adjective suffix -ālis.[1][3] The noun portāle (“gateway”) is its neuter used as a noun.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a medieval word.[1] The noun first appears in the sources in a charter of 1173 in which Louis VII allows a town to be enclosed with walls, ditches and portalia, gates.[5]

Semantic evolution

As a noun it named a town gate and then any large entrance, porch or portal.[2][5][4] Du Cange explains it as the larger gate of a town, the portail of French, and quotes charters from Montpellier of 1238 and 1262 that grant the keys of a portale and allow one to be opened in the town wall.[5] British sources use it from the 13th century for gateways of towns and buildings, and an English glossary renders it “porch”.[4]

As an adjective it meant “of or near a gate”: a Pomeranian charter of 1325 mentions a great domus portalis, a house by the gate.[6][4] Used of a person, the masculine meant a gatekeeper;[1] Du Cange takes the portales of a letter of King John of France of 1355 as keepers of the town gates, though he allows that the gates themselves may be meant.[5]

English took portal in the late 14th century from Old French and directly from Medieval Latin portāle.[3]

Timeline

  • 1173 – A charter of Louis VII uses portalia for the gates of a walled town.[5]
  • 1209–1214 – Gervase of Tilbury describes an entrance like a gateway.[4][1]
  • 1238 – A charter of the bishop of Maguelone grants the portale of Montpellier and its keys.[5]
  • 1325 – A Pomeranian charter mentions a house by the gate.[6]
  • 1355 – A letter of King John of France uses portales perhaps of the keepers of the gates.[5]
  • late 14th century – English borrows the noun as portal.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (Medieval Latin) Of a gate; standing at or near a gate.[1][6][4]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin, neuter portāle) A town gate.[2][5]
  2. (Medieval Latin, neuter portāle) A gateway, porch or portal.[2][4]
  3. (Medieval Latin, masculine) A gatekeeper.[1][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  2. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  6. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl