Where does “porter” come from?
Porter comes from Middle English porter, from Anglo-Norman portour, from Late Latin portarius, an agent noun formed with the suffix -arius from Latin portāre meaning "to carry," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European per-.
porter (English): A person who carries luggage and related objects;...
Definitions
- A person who carries luggage and related objects;...
Ancestry of “porter”, step by step
porter traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English porter
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | porter | gatekeeper, doorkeeper |
| 2 | Old French | portour | carrier; bearer |
| 3 | Old French | porter | to carry; to carry a child |
| 4 | Old French | -ment | Used to form adverbs, most of the time equivalent... |
| 5 | Latin | -mentum | instrument, medium, or result of; e.g.... |
| 6 | Latin | -menta | nominative plural of -mentum; accusative plural... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -mn̥ | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs |