port
/poːt/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.73 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A place on the coast at which ships can shelter, or dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
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.
Uncountable
verb
To dock at a port.
Example Sentences
- "peering in maps for ports and piers and roads"
- "From the ground, Colombo's port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away."
- "More broadly, the port is seen as a litmus test for France; if its most multicultural city can foster vast Muslim enclaves viewed with broad suspicion or hostility by the police, then what hope is there elsewhere?"
- "Each eight has four ports and four starboards."
- "on the port side"
- "Port your helm!"
Etymology
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.
Origin
- Source language: Old English
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /poːt/
- British English: /pɔːt/
Usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- Transitive verb
- American usage
- Archaic
- Informal