portico

American  

[pawr-ti-koh, pohr-] / ˈpɔr tɪˌkoʊ, ˈpoʊr- /

noun

• porticoes,
  plural
• porticos
  plural

1. a structure consisting of a roof supported by columns or piers, usually attached to a building as a porch.

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portico British  

/ ˈpɔːtɪkəʊ /

noun

1. a covered entrance to a building; porch

2. a covered walkway in the form of a roof supported by columns or pillars, esp one built on to the exterior of a building

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• porticoes
  plural
• porticos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of portico

1595–1605; < Italian < Latin porticus porch, portico. See port ⁴

Explanation

If your host suggests that you take your iced tea out to the portico, you can follow him onto the porch. A portico is a front porch with columns. If you've ever seen pictures of the United States Capitol building or the Pantheon in Rome, you've seen a portico. While a porch that is held up with grand columns is a portico, a longer covered area or walkway with columns is called a colonnade. The root of portico, is simply the Latin word for "porch," porticus.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

portico porticoes porticos

Bulletproof glass encasing the portico for his annual appearance with the Easter Bunny?

From Slate ● Apr. 28, 2026

A portico with muscular Doric columns doubles as a terrace, as if Von Stuck had built himself a temple rather than a mere home.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026

Trump finally appeared on the portico of the Blue Room after 7 p.m. on Wednesday to welcome new interns to what the White House described as a “soiree” on the South Lawn.

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2025

The administration invited dozens of influencers to the White House for this year’s State of the Union address, where they recorded selfies from the portico as the president’s motorcade came and went from the Capitol.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2024

Four graceful columns supported the portico, and the huge double door featured a heavy, brass knocker.

From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison

Its White City—a temporary demonstration of the grandeur of classical architecture, with Greek and Roman-style colonnades and porticoes arranged around a lake—had been designed by America’s greatest architects.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026

Dozens of porticoes along the outer walls are bricked in and divided into dark, gated rooms holding saints’ bones and candlelit altars.

From New York Times ● Aug. 30, 2022

At a meeting in China on Wednesday, the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO, the U.N. culture agency, inscribed the porticoes on the prestigious list.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 28, 2021

Back in Trinidad, we park on a quiet street of red-tiled rooftops and shuttered porticoes, where we’ll sleep later.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 24, 2018

Everywhere there were statues of lions—on top of pedestals, over doorways, on the porticoes of the largest buildings.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Washington is a city obsessed with projecting power through stone, and littered with overinflated federal buildings of white marble dressed up with colonnades, pediments and porticos.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

At Bard, the weather drove us inside and out, from his office to benches and tables and porticos.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2022

Once rioters were outside, D.C. police handled removing them from the external stairs, porticos and balconies of the Capitol.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 6, 2021

A potter who also owns a gallery in town, Brewer has filled the lodge with art: in the rooms and lobby, on the porticos and throughout the grounds — even the trails.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 4, 2018

Clinging to the mountainside were dozens of multileveled palaces—a city of mansions—all with white-columned porticos, gilded terraces, and bronze braziers glowing with a thousand fires.

From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• atrium
• colonnade
• veranda