Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “porch” come from?

Porch comes from Middle English porche, from Latin porticus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European per- meaning to lead or pass through, with formative suffixes -icus and -kos.

porch (English): A covered and enclosed entrance to a building,...

Definitions

  1. A covered and enclosed entrance to a building,...

Ancestry of “porch”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishporche—
2Latinporticuscolonnade, arcade; portico
3Latinportagate, especially of a city; entrance, passage,...
4Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
5Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “porch”

  • sunporch
  • porchway
  • porched
  • porchless
  • porchlight
  • porchlike
  • ポーチ
  • 포치
  • Portsch
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →