Porte"mon*naie` (?), n. [F., fr. porter to carry + monnaie money.] A
small pocketbook or wallet for carrying money.
Por*tend" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Portended; p. pr. & vb. n.
Portending.] [L. portendre, portentum, to foretell, to predict, to
impend, from an old preposition used in comp. + tendere to stretch. See
Position, Tend.] 1. To indicate (events, misfortunes, etc.) as in
future; to foreshow; to foretoken; to bode; -- now used esp. of
unpropitious signs. Bacon.
Many signs portended a dark and stormy day.
Macaulay.
2. To stretch out before. [R.] "Doomed to feel the great Idomeneus'
portended steel." Pope.
Syn. -- To foreshow; foretoken; betoken; forebode; augur; presage;
foreshadow; threaten.
Por*ten"sion (?), n. The act of foreshowing; foreboding. [R.] Sir T.
Browne.
Por*tent" (?; 277), n. [L. portentum. See Portend.] That which
portends, or foretoken; esp., that which portends evil; a sign of
coming calamity; an omen; a sign. Shak.
My loss by dire portents the god foretold.
Dryden.
Por*tent"ive (?), a. Presaging; foreshadowing.
Por*tent"ous (?), a. [L. portentosus.] 1. Of the nature of a portent;
containing portents; foreshadowing, esp. foreshadowing ill; ominous.
For, I believe, they are portentous things.
Shak.
Victories of strange and almost portentous splendor.
Macaulay.
2. Hence: Monstrous; prodigious; wonderful; dreadful; as, a beast of
portentous size. Roscommon.
-- Por*tent"ous*ly, adv. -- Por*tent"ous*ness, n.
Por"ter (?), n. [F. portier, L. portarius, from porta a gate, door. See
Port a gate.] A man who has charge of a door or gate; a doorkeeper; one
who waits at the door to receive messages. Shak.
To him the porter openeth.
John x. 3.
Por"ter, n. [F. porteur, fr. porter to carry, L. portare. See Port to
carry.] 1. A carrier; one who carries or conveys burdens, luggage,
etc.; for hire.
2. (Forging) A bar of iron or steel at the end of which a forging is
made; esp., a long, large bar, to the end of which a heavy forging is
attached, and by means of which the forging is lifted and handled in
hammering and heating; -- called also porter bar.
3. A malt liquor, of a dark color and moderately bitter taste,
possessing tonic and intoxicating qualities.
Porter is said to be so called as having been first used chiefly by the
London porters, and this application of the word is supposed to be not
older than 1750.
Por"ter*age (?), n. 1. The work of a porter; the occupation of a
carrier or of a doorkeeper.
2. Money charged or paid for the carriage of burdens or parcels by a
porter.
Por"ter*ess, n. See Portress.
Por"ter*house, n. A house where porter is sold.
Porterhouse steak, a steak cut from a sirloin of beet, including the
upper and under part.
Por"tesse (?), n. See Porteass. [Obs.] Tyndale.
Port"fire` (?), n. A case of strong paper filled with a composition of
niter, sulphur, and mealed powder, -- used principally to ignite the
priming in proving guns, and as an incendiary material in shells.
Port*fol"io (?), n. [F. portefeuille; porter to carry + feuille a leaf.
See Port to carry, and Folio.] 1. A portable case for holding loose
papers, prints, drawings, etc.
2. Hence: The office and functions of a minister of state or member of
the cabinet; as, to receive the portfolio of war; to resign the
portfolio.
Port"glave (?), n. [F. porte- glaive; porter to carry + glaive a
sword.] A sword bearer. [Obs.]
{ Port"greve` (?), Port"grave` (?), }[AS. portgerfa; port a harbor +
gerfa a reeve or sheriff. See Reeve a steward, and cf. Portreeve.] In
old English law, the chief magistrate of a port or maritime town.; a
portreeve. [Obs.] Fabyan.
Port"hole` (?), n. (Naut.) An embrasure in a ship's side. See 3d Port.
Port"hook` (?), n. (Naut.) One of the iron hooks to which the port
hinges are attached. J. Knowles.
Port"hors` (?), n. See Portass. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Por"ti*co, n.; pl. Porticoes (#) or Porticos. [It., L. porticus. See
Porch.] (Arch.) A colonnade or covered ambulatory, especially in
classical styles of architecture; usually, a colonnade at the entrance
of a building.
Por"ti*coed (?), a. Furnished with a portico.
||Por`tiËre"" (?), n. [F., fr. porte gate, door. See Port a gate.] A
||curtain hanging across a doorway.
Por"ti*gue (?), n. See Portague. Beau. & Fl.
Por"tin*gal (?), a. Of or pertaining to Portugal; Portuguese. [Obs.] --
n. A Portuguese. [Obs.]
Por"tion (?), n. [F., from L. portio, akin to pars, partis, a part. See
Part, n.] 1. That which is divided off or separated, as a part from a
whole; a separated part of anything.
2. A part considered by itself, though not actually cut off or
separated from the whole.
These are parts of his ways; but how little a portion is heard of
him!
Job xxvi. 14.
Portions and parcels of the dreadful past.
Tennyson.