porter

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“
"Mind you take every care of him, for the porter is a right good fellow Why, sir, I didn't do nothing to speak of, sir," said Jupp, quite abashed at being made so much of.

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Definitions (25)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. noun A person employed to carry burdens, especially an attendant who carries travelers' baggage at a hotel or transportation station.
  2. noun A railroad employee who waits on passengers in a sleeping car or parlor car.
  3. noun A maintenance worker for a building or institution.
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Examples (50)

  • The fire started around three, so the porter was the only one there. —  The BROTHERHOOD of the HOLY SHRO
  • Only the porter was there, sitting at the desk in the hall. —  Spinsters in Jeopardy - Ngaio Marsh - Alleyn 17
  • Not a porter is there in the army, nor a currier of camels, but hath seen some part of our bodies, and, what is worse, our very faces!" —  The History of Caliph Vathek
  • "Mind you take every care of him, for the porter is a right good fellow Why, sir, I didn't do nothing to speak of, sir," said Jupp, quite abashed at being made so much of. —  Teddy The Story of a Little Pickle
  • I had not been able to get into the house, owing to the presence there of a detective named Tarling, but I had had a very good look round and I knew the way in, without coming through the front door, where a porter was always on duty I had no difficulty either in getting into the building or into the flat. —  The Daffodil Mystery
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Etymologies (6)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. Middle English portour, from Anglo-Norman, from Late Latin portātor, from Latin portāre, to carry; see per-2 in Indo-European roots.
  2. Middle English, from Anglo-Norman, from Late Latin portārius, from Latin porta, gate; see per-2 in Indo-European roots.
  3. Short for porter's ale.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. from Middle English porter, portere, portour, from Old French (and F.) portier = Spanish portero = Portuguese porteiro = Italian portiere, from Late Latin portarius, a doorkeeper, from Latin porta, a door, gate: see port.
  2. from Middle English portour, portowre, from Old French (and F.) porteur = Spanish Portuguese portador = Italian portatore, from Middle Latin portator (cf. Late Latin feminine portatrix), a carrier, from Latin portare, past participle portatus, carry: see port.
  3. Short for porter-beer (later F. porter-bière) or *porters' beer: said to have been a favorite beverage of the London porters (see porter), but perhaps so called in allusion to its strength and substance. There is no evidence that London porters, as distinguished from London cabmen or London artisans, favored this sort of beer.
 

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/ˈpoʊrtər/
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