porter

▪ I. porter, n.¹
    (ˈpɔətə(r))
    Forms: 3– porter; 3–5 -ere, 4 -or, (6 Sc.) -ar, 4–5 -are, -our, 5 -eour, -iere, 6 Sc. -eir.
    [ME. and AF. porter = OF. portier (12th c. in Godef.):—late L. portārius door-keeper, f. L. porta door: see -er².]
    1. a. One who has charge of a door or gate, esp. at the entrance of a fortified town or of a castle or other large building, a public institution, etc.; a gate-keeper, door-keeper, janitor.

c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 382/210 Þat ich moste here porter beo. a 1300 Cursor M. 10013 At ȝates four er four porters [v.rr. -eris, -eres] Þat nathing mai cum in þat ders. 1382 Wyclif John x. 3 To this the porter openeth, and the scheep heeren his vois. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 35 Þei schal be in my sanctuari huschers, & portars. 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) i. x. (1859) 7 Peter is porter of heuen and lyeutenant of the souerayn lord in erthe. 1433 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 475/2 By the hondis of his Portour of the said Castell. 1530 Palsgr. 257/1 Porter, a kepar of a gate, portier. a 1631 Donne Lett. (1651) 32 Like a porter in a great house, ever nearest the door, but seldomest abroad. c 1720 Prior Wandering Pilgrim 46 Let him in thy hall but stand, And wear a porter's gown. 1800 Med. Jrnl. III. 178 There shall be a resident Apothecary,..a Secretary, a Collector, a Porter, and such other Officers as shall be found necessary. 1885 Morley Crit. Misc., Pattison's Mem. III. 151 Accomplishments..more fitted for the porter of a workhouse than for the head of a college.

fig. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 296 And made pees porter [C. portor, -our] to pynne þe ȝates. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 97 Þes v. portours byfore-sayd er þe v. wyttes, þat dwellys yn þe eighen, yn þe eryn, yn þe nese, yn þe tonge, and yn þe hondes. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. cxxv, I fand, full redy at the ȝate, The maister portare, callit pacience. 1610 T. Collins Mercy in Farr S.P. Jas. I (1848) 357 Mercy's the porter of heauen's pretious dores. 1614 Purchas Pilgrimage 531 Two mightie Colosses or statues of Lions, were set as porters at the doore. 1668 Bp. Hopkins Serm., Vanity (1685) 72 God hath set that grim porter, Death, at the gate.

    b. Applied to a watch-dog. c. (See quot. 1846.)

c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 37 Cerberus, the porter of hell, with hys cheyne. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Somerset (1662) iii. 18 [Mastiffs] are not (like Apes) the fooles and jesters, but the useful Servants in a Family, viz. the Porters thereof. 1846 P. Parley's Ann. VII. 325 Gamekeepers give various names to rabbits: with them they are warreners, porters, sweethearts, and hedgehogs... The porter's favourite haunt is in gentlemen's pleasure grounds.

    † 2. Anat. (tr. Gr. πυλωρός): The pyloric orifice of the stomach, where it opens into the small intestine. Obs.

1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 349 It beginneth at the porter of the stomach, and is so seated beside the liuer. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 119 It is called πυλωρός or the Porter, commonly the neather orifice.

    3. attrib. and Comb.: porter's chair (see quot. 1969); porter's lodge († porter-lodge), a lodge for the porter at the gate of the castle, park, etc. (formerly a place of corporal punishment for servants and dependants); † porter-vein, the vena portæ or portal vein (see portal a. 2).

1939 A. Christie Ten Little Niggers viii. 109 On the main terrace, Mr. Justice Wargrave sat huddled in a *porter's chair. 1953 J. Cary Except the Lord xxxv. 152, I was able to assist her own efforts enough to get her into her usual armchair, one of those great leather chairs with a high domed back, which were called porter's chairs and were valued in farmhouses for their power of keeping out draughts. 1969 J. Gloag Short Dict. Furnit. (rev. ed.) 532 Porter's chair, a high-backed armchair with wings raised to an arched hood, upholstered in leather, and placed in the hall of a town or country house, so that the porter or page boy on door duty could sit protected from draughts. Such chairs were introduced in the 16th century, and during the Georgian period were found in the entrance hall to every well-furnished house. 1972 N. Marsh Tied up in Tinsel viii. 195 He..sat down in one of two great porter's chairs that flanked the fireplace.

1471–2 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 644 Factura muri infra le *Porterloge. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlii. 76 Strangenes, quhair that he did ly, Wes brint in to the porter luge. a 1592 Greene Newes fr. Heaven & Hell (1593) B j, Wee be not farre from Heauen gates, and if S. Peter should understand of your abuse, I knowe he would commit you both to the Porters Lodge. 1623 Massinger Dk. Milan iii. ii, Fit company only for pages and for footboys That have perused the porter's lodge. 1822 W. Irving Sketch Bk., Christmas Eve, Close adjoining was the porter's lodge. 1899 Crockett Kit Kennedy 106 Gang doon to the porter-lodge, and wait till I come till ye.

1625 Hart Anat. Ur. ii. viii. 105 But what if such creatures were conueyed..through the mesaraicke veines into the great *porter veine? 1686 A. Snape Anat. Horse i. ix. 17 A small Vein..called pylorica or Porter-vein.

    Hence ˈporter v.¹ intr., to be or act as a porter.

1605 [see devil n. 23 a]. 1627 P. Fletcher Locusts iv. xxviii, Wee'l hold their heart, wee'l porter at their eare.

▪ II. porter, n.²
    (ˈpɔətə(r))
    Also 4 portour, 5 -oure, -owre.
    [ME. portour, a. OF. porteour (12th c. in Godef.) (mod.F. -eur):—L. portātōr-em, agent-noun f. L. portāre to carry, port v.¹ The ending -our was changed in 16th c. to -er: see -er² 3.]
    1. a. A person whose employment is to carry burdens; now esp. a servant of a railway company employed to carry luggage at a station (in full, railway porter).
    † porter's ale, beer: see porter n.³ porter's knot: see knot n.¹ 5.

1382 Wyclif 1 Chron. xvi. 42 The sonis forsothe of Yditym he made to ben porters. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 370 A dosen harlotes Of portours and of pykeporses and pylede toþ-drawers. 1469 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 336 If any of the portoures goo owt with cariage into the contry. 1530 Palsgr. 257/1 Porter of burdens, crochetevr. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 114, I saw a Porter..drink up a Flagon of Beer. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxi. ¶2 About an hundred Pounds weight, viz. a Porters Burthen. 1809 R. Langford Introd. Trade 134 Porters,..employed to carry goods or parcels, also persons duly authorised, who attend wharfs for employment in various capacities respecting shipping. 1878 F. S. Williams Midl. Railw. 621 Porters for the passenger department are not accepted if they are less than 5 ft. 8 in. high. 1890 Daily News 17 Nov. 5/4 The Fellowship Porters—who must not be confounded with their humbler brethren the ‘Ticket Porters’ and the ‘Tackle Porters’—are an association with a standing that entitles them to a hearing. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 15 July 4/2 The porter's rest, which stood so long on the north side of St. Paul's, disappeared at Jubilee time last year. 1901 Census Schedule, Instruct., Porters..should specify the nature of their employment—as Railway Porter. The term Porter should never be used alone.

    b. gen. and fig. One who or that which carries or conveys; a bearer, carrier.

1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 700 There is no need of porter, of a mediatour or minister, say onely, Lord haue mercie vpon me. 1634 Bp. Hall Contempl., N.T. iv. xxxii, Simon of Cyrene is forced to be the porter of Thy cross. 1659 T. Pecke Parnassi Puerp. 67 The Grecian Tongue, Porter of Wit, and Art. 1817 Sporting Mag. L. 231 It enables him [the spaniel] to be a good roader, as it is styled in the south; in the north it is termed a good porter. 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 868 Ships..are not such good porters of cholera as caravans, armies, hordes of pilgrims and unsanitary travellers.

    c. (See quot.)

1607 Cowell Interpr., Porter in the circuit of Iustices, is an officer that carieth a verge or white rodde before the Iustices in Eyre, so called, a portando virgam, an. 13 Ed. I cap. 24. 1772 Jacob's Law Dict. s.v., There is also a porter bearing a verge before the justices of either bench.

    d. In full, hospital porter: a person employed by a hospital to convey patients and to carry out other general duties.

1950 G. B. Shaw Farfetched Fables iii. 109 They offered me a job as hospital porter because I'm physically strong. 1964 D. Francis Nerve vi. 64 The nurse came back with a stretcher trolley and two khaki-overalled porters... We waited outside in the hall, and saw them trundle Pip off towards the open lift. 1975 Oxford Times 7 Nov. 4/8 An Oxford hospital porter with a grudge against his employers used cheques he had stolen and forged..to obtain over {pstlg}700 from banks in the city.

    2. An appliance for lifting, carrying, or supporting. † a. A lever. Obs.

1538 Elyot Dict., Palange, leauers or porters, wherewith they left and beare tymbre, and suche like thynges of greatte weight. Palango.., to beare on leyuars or porters. 1566 Withals Dict. 32/1.

    † b. A supporting structure of timber or stone. (Cf. bearer 9.) Obs.

1591 Lodge Diogenes (Hunter. Cl.) 19 He..swore that he would ouerthrowe the porters and bearers, which he practising to doo, the timber fell sodainly in the midst of his sawing.

    c. An iron bar attached to a heavy body to be forged, by which it may, when suspended from a crane, be guided beneath the hammer or into the furnace; a porter-rod. Also, a bar from the end of which something (e.g. a knife-blade) is forged. (Knight Dict. Mech.)

1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 78 (Anchor), Porter, a straight bar of iron, about 2 inches square, confined at one end to the end of the shank. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 44 The lower part [of an anchor] is left disunited, but has carrier iron bars, or porters, as these prolongation rods are commonly called, welded to the extremity of each portion. Ibid. 704 The bloom or rough ball, from the puddle furnace, is laid and turned about upon it, by means of a rod of iron welded to each of them, called a porter. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. s.v., A cross lever fixed to the porter is the means of rotating the forging beneath the hammer.

    d. A light carriage with two or three wheels, to hold up from the ground the chain or rope of a steam plough.

1864 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XXV. ii. 416 The Travelling-porters are intended to carry the implement rope, the outer rope being best carried by the ordinary three-wheel porters.

    3. Weaving. (Sc.) = beer n.³

1814 A. Peddie Manuf., Weaver & Warp. Assist. (1818) 152 What the Scotch weavers term a Porter, the English term a beer. 1846 G. White Treat. Weaving 277 The hundred splits in all kinds of reeds is nominally divided into five equal portions for the sake of calculation, called porters in Scotland and beers in England. 1867 Black Hist. Brechin xii. 271 A thirty porter or 600 reed is divided into 600 openings in the breadth of 37 inches: 20 of these openings are called a porter. 1894 Dundee Advertiser 5 July 4 The new duty of 20 per cent. would also apply to tarpauling up to 11 or 12 porters.

    4. attrib. and Comb., as porter-beer (see porter n.³), porter-clerk, porter-crab (see quot.), porter-guard, porter-riot, porter-rod (= sense 2 c).

1906 Daily Chron. 25 Jan. 6/7 A youth of seventeen, engaged there as *porter-clerk.

1904 Ibid. 11 Jan. 3/3 At Patami was obtained the ‘*porter’ crab, which lies in the mud clasping a sea anemone to its back by means of modified legs.

1851 Gallenga Italy 181 Student-plots at Pisa, *porter-riots at Leghorn, and demonstrations at Florence.

1839 Ure Dict. Arts 44 (Anchor) To one end a *porter rod is fastened, by which the palm is carried and turned round in the fire during the progress of the fabrication.

    Hence ˈporter v.² trans., to carry as a porter (sense 1), or by means of a porter or porters (sense 2 d); also, (of any person) to carry from one place to another; = portage v.; ˈportering, the work or occupation of a porter; also as ppl. a.

1609 Ev. Woman in Hum. ii. i. in Bullen O. Pl. IV, At night he shall be portered to our chamber. 1864 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XXV. ii. 395 It would have been interesting..to have tested the draft of this rope dragging on the surface, against the wire rope properly ‘portered’. 1904 Daily Chron. 4 July 6/7 Nominally he is a licensed porter,..but he does not do much portering. 1927 Glasgow Herald 13 Aug. 8 This impressionable passenger thinks that it must be a rule of the railway portering brotherhood to make each footfall ‘tell’ to its uttermost. 1966 D. Varaday Gara-Yaka's Domain xiii. 147 Tau decided to camp there..and..strengthen Cwgki and save himself the unwelcome bother of portering his riches. 1967 D. Cooper Psychiatry & Anti-Psychiatry v. 99 A member of the portering staff who witnessed the incident called a nurse who took her back to her ward. 1971 C. Bonington Annapurna South Face iv. 46 The Sherpas, who hold a monopoly in high-altitude portering, come from Sola Khumbu just opposite Everest. 1974 Daily Tel. 13 Dec. 14 We portered all the rapids. We did this because it would have been foolhardy for two relatively inexperienced canoeists to attempt them. 1977 J. I. M. Stewart Madonna of Astrolabe iii. 60 I've just been talking to a couple of young men who have been doing some portering for you. 1978 Morecambe Guardian 14 Mar. 29/7 (Advt.), Applicants should be fit and active as the work entails some portering and assisting the physiotherapists with the walking of elderly patients.

▪ III. porter, n.³
    (ˈpɔətə(r))
    [Short for porter's ale, porter's beer, or porter beer (porter n.²), app. because orig. made for or chiefly drunk by porters and the lower class of labourers: cf. the early quots.
    There is no direct contemporary evidence as to the origin of the name. Statements going back to c 1750 attribute the first brewing of the liquor to Ralph Harwood ‘at the place afterwards called Doctor's Brewhouse, on the east side of High Street, Shoreditch’; but these statements concern the origin not of the appellations porter's ale, porter's beer, but of the term entire. The probability is that porter's ale or beer arose as a popular descriptive appellation.]
    a. A kind of beer, of a dark brown colour and bitterish taste, brewed from malt partly charred or browned by drying at a high temperature.

α 1727 Swift Further Acc. E. Curll Wks. 1755 III. i. 161 Nursed up on grey peas, bullocks liver, and porters ale. 1734 Swift in Mrs. Delaney's Life & Corr. (1861) I. 502, I cannot make shifts..by starving in scanty lodgings,..as I used to do in London, with port-wine, or perhaps Porter's ale, to save charges! 1745 Mortimer in Phil. Trans. XLIII. 552 Their Urine..as high-coloured as Porter's Beer. 1770 Massie Reas. agst. Tax on Malt 5 So that every Person.., must pay more than Three Halfpence for a Pint of Porter-Beer in London.

β 1739 ‘R. Bull’ tr. Dedekindus' Grobianus 139 The Fumes of Porter, Stout, or Home-brew'd Ale. 1743 Lond. & Country Brew. iii. (ed. 2) 221 Of Brewing Butt-Beer, called Porter. c 1750 J. Gutteridge (of Shoreditch) in Gentl. Mag. May (1819) 394/2 Harwood, my townsman, he invented first Porter to rival wine, and quench the thirst. Porter,..Whose reputation rises more and more. 1772 Town & Country Mag. 117 Hard working people delight in a kind of strong beer called porter, brown, clear, bitter and wholesome. 1781 in Hone Every-day Bk. (1827) II. 836 My electors shall have porter at threepence a pot. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts s.v., At first the essential distinction of porter arose from its wort being made with highly-kilned brown malt. 1846 M{supc}Culloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) I. 757 Breweries... The latter principally produce porter, the favourite beverage of the Londoners. 1903 Somerville & ‘Ross’ All on Irish Shore 73 Mrs Brennan added another spoonful of brown sugar to the porter that she was mulling in a saucepan on the range. 1919 G. B. Shaw O'Flaherty V.C. in Heartbreak House 179 And look at your fine new uniform stained already with..the porter youve been drinking. 1922 E. O'Neill Anna Christie (1923) i. 6 Johnny draws the lager and porter and sets the big, foaming schooners before them. 1939 Joyce Finnegans Wake (1964) iii. 511 I've a big suggestion it was about the pint of porter. 1973 [see porter-house 2].

    b. attrib. and Comb., as porter bar, porter-bottle, porter-brewer, porter-brewery, porter-malt, porter-pot, porter-pump, porter-shop, porter-yeast; porter-coloured, porter-drinking, porter-hued adjs.; porter-cup, a mixed beverage containing porter (see quot.) See also porter-house.

1935 Dylan Thomas Let. July (1966) 157 One day a week I shall walk the miles to Glendormatie where there is a shop and *porter bar.

1922 Joyce Ulysses 42 A *porterbottle stood up, stogged to its waist, in the cakey sand dough.

1818 Calvert in Parl. Deb. 1012 It had been proved by those *porter brewers who had been examined before the police committee.

1776 Adam Smith W.N. v. ii. (1869) II. 486 In the *porter brewery of London, a quarter of malt is commonly brewed into more than two barrels and a half, sometimes into three barrels of porter.

1898 Kipling in Morn. Post 9 Nov. 5/2 Clumps of gorse and heather and the *porter-coloured pools of bog water.

1880 Barman's Manual 51 *Porter Cup. Mix, in a tankard, a bottle of porter and an equal quantity of table ale; pour in a glass of brandy and a dessert-spoonful of syrup of ginger; add 3 or 4 lumps of sugar and a nutmeg grated [etc.].

1851 G. Blyth Remin. Mission. Life ii. 121 His *porter-drinking propensities.

1863 Royal Exchange Assurance Art. ii, Maltsters (who make no high-dried or *porter malt).

1807 Southey Lett. from Eng. I. viii. 90 A transparency..which represented a loaf of bread saying to a pot of porter, I am coming down; to which the *porter-pot made answer, So am I. 1824 —— in Life (1849) I. 137 He used to..fling the porter-pot or the poker at me. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxvii, A porter-pot and a wine-bottle.

1804 Larwood No Gun Boats 15 The Caffés of France, and the *Porter Shops of England.

c 1796 Sir J. Dalrymple Observ. Yeast-cake 2 London *porter-yeast..is preferred..by the distillers.

▪ IV. porter
    variant of porture v. Obs.

Oxford English Dictionary