porter

¹

[ pawr-ter, pohr- ]

noun

1. a person hired to carry burdens or baggage, as at a railroad station or a hotel.
2. a person who does cleaning and maintenance work in a building, factory, store, etc.
3. an attendant in a railroad parlor car or sleeping car.

porter

²

[ pawr-ter, pohr- ]

noun

1. a person who has charge of a door or gate; doorkeeper.
2. Roman Catholic Church. ostiary ( def 1 ).

porter

³

[ pawr-ter, pohr- ]

noun

1. a heavy, dark-brown ale made with malt browned by drying at a high temperature.

Porter

⁴

[ pawr-ter, pohr- ]

noun

1. Cole, 1893–1964, U.S. composer.
2. David, 1780–1843, U.S. naval officer.
3. his son David Dix·on [dik, -s, uh, n], 1813–91, Union naval officer in the Civil War.
4. Edwin Stanton, 1870–1941, U.S. film director.
5. Gene Gene Stratton Porter, 1868–1924, U.S. novelist.
6. Sir George, 1920–2002, British chemist: Nobel Prize 1967.
7. Katherine Anne, 1890–1980, U.S. writer.
8. Noah, 1811–92, U.S. educator, writer, and lexicographer.
9. Rodney Robert, 1917–85, British biochemist: Nobel Prize in medicine 1972.
10. William Sydney O. Henry, 1862–1910, U.S. short-story writer.
11. a male given name.

porter

¹

/ ˈpɔːtə /

noun

1. a dark sweet ale brewed from black malt

porter

²

/ ˈpɔːtə /

noun

1. a person employed to carry luggage, parcels, supplies, etc, esp at a railway station or hotel
2. (in hospitals) a person employed to move patients from place to place
3. a railway employee who waits on passengers, esp in a sleeper
4. a manual labourer

porter

³

/ ˈpɔːtə /

noun

1. a person in charge of a gate or door; doorman or gatekeeper
2. a person employed by a university or college as a caretaker and doorkeeper who also answers enquiries
3. a person in charge of the maintenance of a building, esp a block of flats
4. Also calledostiary RC Church a person ordained to what was formerly the lowest in rank of the minor orders

Porter

⁴

/ ˈpɔːtə /

noun

1. PorterCole18931964MUSMUSIC: composerMUSIC: lyricist Cole. 1893–1964, US composer and lyricist of musical comedies. His most popular songs include Night and Day and Let's do It
2. PorterGeorge, Baron Porter of Luddenham19202002MBritishSCIENCE: chemist George, Baron Porter of Luddenham. 1920–2002, British chemist, who shared a Nobel prize for chemistry in 1967 for his work on flash photolysis
3. PorterKatherine Anne18901980FUSWRITING: short-story writerWRITING: novelist Katherine Anne. 1890–1980, US short-story writer and novelist. Her best-known collections of stories are Flowering Judas (1930) and Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1939)
4. PorterRodney Robert19171985MBritishSCIENCE: chemist Rodney Robert. 1917–85, British biochemist: shared the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine 1972 for determining the structure of an antibody
5. William Sidney. original name of O. Henry

Porter

/ pôr′tər /

1. British biochemist who shared with George Edelman the 1972 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for their study of the chemical structure of antibodies.

Word History and Origins

Origin of porter¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English portour, portur(e), porter, from Anglo-French portour, porter, from Middle French portour, from Old French porteour, from Late Latin portātōr- (stem of portātor, a derivative of portāre “to carry”; port ⁵, -or ²

Origin of porter²

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English porter, porter(e), portar(e), from Anglo-French porter, portour, from Old French portier, from Late Latin portārius “gatekeeper,” equivalent to porta “door” + -ārius adjective and noun suffix; port ⁴, -er ²

Origin of porter³

First recorded in 1720–30; short for porter's ale, apparently originally brewed for porters

Word History and Origins

Origin of porter¹

C18: shortened from porter's ale, apparently because it was a favourite beverage of porters

Origin of porter²

C14: from Old French portour, from Late Latin portātōr, from Latin portāre to carry

Origin of porter³

C13: from Old French portier, from Late Latin portārius doorkeeper, from Latin porta door

Example Sentences

Pack lightly enough to be free from porters, taxi drivers and bellhops.

From New York Times

The debate is not restricted to restaurants - gratuities can be offered to many workers including hairdressers, taxi drivers and hotel porters.

From BBC

Born in Morocco, Abdulaziz was a porter at University College London Hospital and a "popular colleague known for being kind", said his brother Hamed, who also lived in Grenfell Tower.

From BBC

Almost 170,000 staff - including midwives, paramedics, allied health professionals and porters - would get the pay increase for 2024-25, backdated to April.

From BBC

After driving five hours along dirt roads all of the camping gear, food and equipment is loaded on to the backs and heads of more than sixty porters.

From BBC