portal1
[pawr-tl, pohr-]
- a door, gate, or entrance, especially one of imposing appearance, as to a palace.
- an iron or steel bent for bracing a framed structure, having curved braces between the vertical members and a horizontal member at the top.
- an entrance to a tunnel or mine.
- Computers. a website that functions as an entry point to the Internet, as by providing useful content and linking to various sites and features on the World Wide Web.
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Origin of portal1
1300–50; Middle English portale < Medieval Latin, noun use of neuter of portālis of a gate. See portal2
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comportal2
[pawr-tl, pohr-]Anatomy
- noting or pertaining to the transverse fissure of the liver.
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Origin of portal2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for portal
Contemporary Examples
The portal will have a system of simultaneous translation in three languages including English.
Bonus Tip: Be aware of Equity Crowdfunding Coming to a Portal Near You!
It was clear people saw the memorial as a portal to the next life, a way to reach their lost loved ones on the wind.
What it offered instead was something far more unsettling: a portal to the life and times of a twisted, small man.
Valle plunged to depths most of us cannot even imagine, via an Internet portal called Dark Fetish Network.
Historical Examples
Down swooped the great cog into the narrow channel which was the portal to safety.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
In front, the sea appears as between the pillars of a portal.
Footprints on the Sea-Shore (From "Twice Told Tales")Nathaniel Hawthorne
"I shall not forget it," said I, as we drew up before the portal.
Pylon, or Pro-Pylon, the portal or front of an Egyptian temple.
ArchitectureThomas Roger Smith
The portal through which the Martian had vanished was next to it.
The Great Dome on MercuryArthur Leo Zagat
portal
- an entrance, gateway, or doorway, esp one that is large and impressive
- any entrance or access to a place
- computing an internet site providing links to other sites
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- anatomy
- of or relating to a portal veinhepatic portal system
- of or relating to a porta
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Word Origin
C14: via Old French from Medieval Latin portāle, from Latin porta gate, entrance
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for portal
n.
late 14c., "gate, gateway," from Old French portal "gate" (Modern French portail) and directly from Medieval Latin portale "city gate, porch," from neuter of portalis (adj.) "of a gate," from Latin porta "gate" (see port (n.1)).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
portal
(pôr′tl)- Of or relating to a porta or hilum.
- Of or relating to the portal vein or the portal system.
- Of or relating to a point of entrance to an organ, especially the transverse fissure of the liver, through which the blood vessels enter.
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- The portal vein.
- The point of entry into the body of a pathogenic microorganism.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
portal
A Web site that provides a gateway to other Web sites.
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.