port.
A place on the coast at which ships can shelter, or dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.
Meaning & usage
A place on the coast at which ships can shelter, or dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.
A town or city containing such a place, a port city.
The left-hand side of a vessel, including aircraft, when one is facing forward. Used to unambiguously refer to directions relative to the vessel structure, rather than to a person or object on board.
A sweep rower that primarily rows with an oar on the port side.
Each eight has four ports and four starboards.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Indo-European *pértusder. Proto-Italic *portus Latin portusbor. Old English port English port From Old English port, borrowed from Latin portus (“port, harbour”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (“crossing”) (and thus a distant doublet of ford). The directional sense, attested since at least the 1500s, derives from ancient vessels with the steering oar on the right (see etymology of starboard), which therefore had to moor with their left sides facing the dock or wharf. Doublet of fjard, fjord, firth, ford, and Portus.
Of or relating to port, the left-hand side of a vessel when facing the bow.
on the port side
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Indo-European *pértusder. Proto-Italic *portus Latin portusbor. Old English port English port From Old English port, borrowed from Latin portus (“port, harbour”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (“crossing”) (and thus a distant doublet of ford). The directional sense, attested since at least the 1500s, derives from ancient vessels with the steering oar on the right (see etymology of starboard), which therefore had to moor with their left sides facing the dock or wharf. Doublet of fjard, fjord, firth, ford, and Portus.
To turn or put to the left or larboard side of a ship; said of the helm.
Port your helm!
To dock at a port.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Indo-European *pértusder. Proto-Italic *portus Latin portusbor. Old English port English port From Old English port, borrowed from Latin portus (“port, harbour”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (“crossing”) (and thus a distant doublet of ford). The directional sense, attested since at least the 1500s, derives from ancient vessels with the steering oar on the right (see etymology of starboard), which therefore had to moor with their left sides facing the dock or wharf. Doublet of fjard, fjord, firth, ford, and Portus.
An entryway or gate.
An opening or doorway in the side of a ship, especially for boarding or loading; an embrasure through which a cannon may be discharged; a porthole.
A small medical appliance installed beneath the skin, connected to a vein by a catheter, and used to inject drugs or to draw blood samples.
A narrow opening between other players' bowls or stones wide enough for a delivered bowl or stone to pass through.
An opening where a connection (such as with a pipe) is made.
An opening with a valve seat such that a valve can control the flow of fluid through the opening.
A logical or physical construct in and from which data are transferred. Computer port on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
A female connector of an electronic device, into which a cable's male connector can be inserted.
A number that delimits a connection for specific processes or parts of a network service.
Where this word comes from
Inherited from the Old English port, from the Latin porta (“passage, gate”), reinforced by the Old French porte. Doublet of porta.
To carry, bear, bring, or transport. See porter.
To hold or carry (a weapon) with both hands so that it lies diagonally across the front of the body, with the barrel or similar part near the left shoulder and the right hand grasping the small of the stock; or, to throw (the weapon) into this position on command.
Port arms!
To adapt, modify, or recode to work on a different platform.
To carry or transfer (an existing telephone number) from one service provider to another.
To transfer a voucher or subsidy from one jurisdiction to another.
Where this word comes from
From Old French porter, from Latin portāre (“carry”). Akin to transport, portable.
Something used to carry a thing, especially a frame for wicks in candle-making.
The manner in which a person carries himself; bearing; deportment; carriage. See also portance.
The position of a weapon when ported; a rifle position executed by throwing the weapon diagonally across the front of the body, with the right hand grasping the small of the stock and the barrel sloping upward and crossing the point of the left shoulder.
A program that has been adapted, modified, or recoded so that it works on a different platform; the act of this adapting.
Gamers can't wait until a port of the title is released on the new system.
The latest port of the database software is the worst since we made the changeover.
A set of files used to build and install a binary executable file from the source code of an application.
Where this word comes from
From Old French porter, from Latin portāre (“carry”). Akin to transport, portable.
A type of very sweet fortified wine, mostly dark red, traditionally made in Portugal.
Where this word comes from
Named from Portuguese Porto, a city in Portugal where the wines were originally shipped from.
A suitcase or schoolbag.
Where this word comes from
Clipping of portmanteau.
The portfolio of a model or artist or investor.
Where this word comes from
Clipping of portfolio.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.