free port

American  

noun

1. a port or special section of a port where goods may be unloaded, stored, and shipped without payment of customs duties.

2. a port open under equal conditions to all traders.

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free port British  

noun

1. a port open to all commercial vessels on equal terms

2. Also called: free zone.  a zone adjoining a port that permits the duty-free entry of foreign goods intended for re-export

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Etymology

Origin of free port

First recorded in 1705–15

Example Sentences

Odesa’s free port status financed its extraordinary architectural flowering in the 1800s and helped build its vibrant multiethnic society.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2024

It may be that a free port and international status for the town, with Italian sovereignty in cultural questions, would best serve the Allied and European cause, especially during the years of transition.

From The Guardian • May 6, 2020

He suggests such a government could "carve out a duty free port of call", and be able to do business with other nations.

From BBC • Nov. 1, 2015

Other collectors, she added, are starting to move their art to the free port of Luxembourg, where they can store it while the political process unfolds.

From New York Times • Jul. 18, 2015

And even if surrendered with the guarantee of its being a free port, according to the Bulwer and Clayton treaty, the State must derive great advantage from it.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 15, August, 1851 by Various