portico
Americannoun
plural
porticoes, porticosnoun
-
a covered entrance to a building; porch
-
a covered walkway in the form of a roof supported by columns or pillars, esp one built on to the exterior of a building
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.
Vocabulary lists containing portico
Built To Last: Architectural Parlance
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The Lightning Thief
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Ancient Greece - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Paper lanterns were laid across the courtyard, as they had been at a public viewing of Armani's body in Milan earlier this month, with the models walking under the portico.
From BBC • Sep. 29, 2025
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
The door under the little portico was unlocked, and they ran inside to find themselves in a bare circular room with several statues of goddesses in niches around the wall.
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
