portal

Forms

portal n (plural portaluri)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Portal, with Italian portale as a second model, as DEX and the DLR give it;^[2][3][4][5] MDA2 adds French portail, and Scriban gives only the French word, citing Old French portal.^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary names German.^[1] The German word was borrowed in the 15th century from Medieval Latin portale, an augmentative formation on Latin porta (“door, gate”).^[6][7] Its present architectural sense came in the 16th and 17th centuries with French and Italian architecture.^[7] The Internet sense, a site that gives access to other sites, is from English portal.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is in Titu Maiorescu's parliamentary speeches, in the volume covering 1866–1876, where a plan was sent both for a church and for its portale.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

The architectural sense, the main monumental entrance of a building framed in carved stone, is the oldest;^[3][9][10] Eminescu wrote of golden portale of a church and of moonlight passing through old portaluri.^[3][9][10] Engineering extended it to the stone or metal opening at the entry of large railway bridges and to the masonry that holds the ground at the mouth of a tunnel.^[2][3] It also names the opening of a theatre stage and, in geology, a natural arch.^[4][11] From the 2000s it names an Internet portal.^[8]

Timeline

• 1866–1876 – portale in Maiorescu's parliamentary speeches.^[4][3]
• 1886 – Barcianu's Romanian–German dictionary glosses it as the main gate or entrance.^[12]
• 1893–1895 – Damé lists it as a neologism used by Eminescu.^[10]
• 2002 – Internet portaluri in the newspaper Adevărul.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The main monumental entrance of a building, decorated in the style of its period; a portal.^[2][1]
2. A stone or metal opening at the entry of large railway bridges.^[2]
3. A masonry or concrete structure that holds the ground around the mouth of a tunnel and the slope above it.^[2][4]
4. The opening of a theatre stage.^[4][11]
5. (computing) An Internet website whose main page gives access to other sites.^[8]

Related words

• poartă
• German Portal

Usage notes

The plural is portaluri;^[2][3][9] portale also occurs, as in Eminescu.^[2][3][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 851
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. portal
4. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 475
5. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1020
6. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 716
7. ^ a b Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
8. ^ a b c d Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE)
9. ^ a b c d Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
10. ^ a b c Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État
11. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
12. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic