porto Italian · revision 38046

+ GRADIT has separate entries for ''porto'' “harbour”, from Latin, ''porto'' “carriage”, formed from the verb ''portare'', and ''porto'' “port wine”, from the name of the Portuguese city;^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3030) DELI and DEI also separate them.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3030)

+

+ {{homograph|1|harbour}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1250|origins=ine-pro *per-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpɔr.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''porto''' ''m'' (plural porti)^(Wiktionary)

+ An old plural is ''pòrtora''.^(DEI|3030)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The harbour is [[inh|la|portus|t=passage, entrance; harbour]], a word of Indo-European origin related to [[la|porta|t=gate]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The sense “passage” survives in [[es|puerto]] and [[pt|porto]] “mountain pass”.^(DEI|3030)^(REW 1935) The word is found in all of Romance except Romanian: [[fr|port]], [[oc|port]], [[ca|port]], [[sc|portu]] and [[fur|puart]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI|3030) It was borrowed into [[cy|porth]] and [[ang|port]].^(REW 1935)^(DEI|3030)

+

+ Latin [[m|la|portus]] comes from [[itc-pro|*portus]], from [[ine-pro|*pértus|t=crossing]], from the root [[m|ine-pro|*per-|t=to cross]].^(Wiktionary) Nocentini lists its exact cognates: [[ae|pərətu-|t=passage, ford]], [[goh|furt|t=ford]] (German [[m|de|Furt]], English [[m|en|ford]]), [[non|fjǫrðr]] “fjord” and Welsh [[m|cy|rhyd|t=ford]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3030)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ GRADIT dates the word before 1250, and Nocentini to the first half of the 13th century.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010) DELI's first record is Rinaldo d'Aquino, in the sense “sheltered water where ships can lie safely and load and unload”; in his lament the ships “son giute a porto / e or vogliono collare” (have come into port and now want to hoist sail).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|13)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense “final goal, longed-for end” is recorded in Rustico di Filippo, before 1300.^(DELI 1999) Petrarch called his little room “un porto / a le gravi tempeste mie diurne” (a harbour for the heavy storms of my days), and the Church used the word for God, the Virgin and the saints as a refuge.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Giovanni Villani used it for a trading post.^(DEI|3030) In the Venetian lagoon each of the three openings in the coastal strip is a ''porto''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ The phrase ''porto di mare'' “place where people come and go all the time” is probably a calque on Milanese ''port de mar'', which Cherubini recorded in this sense in 1841.^(DELI 1999) The adjective ''portuoso'' came from Latin in the 14th century, and ''portuale'' is recorded in 1871.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Medieval Latin ''portulanus'' (1285) gave ''portolano'', the pilots' book of harbours.^(Prati 1951|799) German used ''Porto'' as a sailors' word from 1479.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – GRADIT's date for the first record.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 13th century – Rinaldo d'Aquino uses ''porto'' “harbour”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1300 – Rustico di Filippo uses it for a final goal.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1285 – Medieval Latin ''portulanus'' is recorded.^(Prati 1951|799)

+ * 1323 – ''Portuoso'' “having many harbours”.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1479 – German ''Porto'' “harbour” is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1841 – Cherubini records Milanese ''port de mar'' in the sense later taken by ''porto di mare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1871 – ''Portuale'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|harbour]] or [[m|en|port]], on a sea, lake or river, where ships can shelter and load and unload: ''La nave è entrata in porto all'alba.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A port city; the harbour district of a town: ''Abitano vicino al porto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # In the Venetian lagoon, each of the openings through which the sea flows in and out.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A [[m|en|haven]], a place or person that offers peace and safety.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''andare in porto'', ''condurre in porto'': to succeed, to bring to a successful end: ''L'accordo è andato in porto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''porto franco'': a free port, ''porto di mare'' (figurative), a place where people constantly come and go.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[portuale]]

+ * [[portuoso]]

+ * [[porticciolo]]

+ * [[avamporto]]

+ * [[interporto]]

+ * [[retroporto]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|carriage, transport}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=1255–1290|origins=la portō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpɔr.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''porto''' ''m'' (plural ''porti'')^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ This noun is formed from the verb [[portare|t=to carry]], as a noun without a suffix; [[fr|port]] has the same formation from 1265.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DEI|3031) The verb is [[inh|la|portō|t=to carry]].^(Körting 1907)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Nocentini dates the word to 1255–1290 in the phrase ''porto d'armi'', and GRADIT to the first half of the 14th century.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) In the ''Leggenda di Lazzaro, Marta e Maddalena'' the apostles are carried in a single ''porto'' to the Virgin's house before her death.^(GDLI|13)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ DEI finds the sense “carrying, transport” in Giovanni Maria Cecchi and Filippo Sassetti, and “cost of carriage” in Annibal Caro and Tasso, all in the 16th century;^(DEI|3031)^(Zingarelli 2010) Zingarelli dates the word before 1566.^(DEI|3031)^(Zingarelli 2010) In Cecchi's ''L'assiuolo'' a letter from Calicut or Peru would not cost so much postage.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) DEI also records the military sense “way of carrying arms” and, in 1871, the bearers of the litter in the Compagnia della Misericordia.^(DEI|3031) German took the word as a postal term, ''Porto'' “postage”, from 1630.^(DIFIT)^(DEI|3031)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1255–1290 – ''Porto d'armi''.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 16th century – Cecchi and Sassetti use ''porto'' “transport”, and Caro and Tasso “cost of carriage”.^(DEI|3031)

+ * 1630 – German ''Porto'' “postage” is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(commerce)'' Carriage, transport of goods, letters or luggage.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The cost of carriage; [[m|en|postage]]: ''franco di porto'', carriage paid, ''porto assegnato'', carriage forward.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''porto d'armi'': the carrying of a weapon, and the [[m|en|licence]] for it: ''Ha chiesto il porto d'armi per la caccia.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|3|port wine}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing, eponym|attested=1874|origins=la portus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpɔr.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''porto''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The wine is named after the Portuguese city it was shipped from, [[bor|pt|Porto]], also called ⟨Oporto⟩, from ⟨o porto⟩ “the harbour”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|3031) French and English also call it ⟨porto⟩, and it is [[de|Portwein]].^(DEI|3031)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Nocentini dates the word to 1874 and DELI's first record is Cusmano in 1889, for the bright, delicately scented fortified wine of Portugal.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1874 – Nocentini's date for ''porto'' “port wine”.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1889 – Cusmano uses the word.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|port]], the sweet fortified red or white wine of Portugal.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[porta]]

+ * [[portare]]

+ * [[portolano]]

+ * [[la|portus]]

+ * [[en|ford]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Porto'' is also the past participle of [[porgere|t=to hand, offer]], recorded in the 13th century in Chiaro Davanzati.^(DELI 1999) GRADIT records a fourth, obsolete ''porto'', a barge once used to ferry people and goods across rivers.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Pyrenean ''porto'' “mountain pass” of Old Italian epic came from Spanish through Old French.^(GDLI|13)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}