Where does “porthole” come from?
Porthole comes from English portal and English hole, ultimately from Latin porta meaning door or gate, and Latin oleum meaning oil, derived from Ancient Greek ἔλαιον and Proto-Indo-European per-.
porthole (English): A gunport; an opening in the hull of a ship...
Definitions
- A gunport; an opening in the hull of a ship...
Ancestry of “porthole”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | Port | — |
| 2 | English | portfolio | A case for carrying papers, drawings,... |
| 3 | Italian | portafoglio | wallet, billfold; portfolio |
| 4 | Italian | foglio | sheet |
| 5 | Latin | folium | a leaf; a petal; a sheet or leaf of paper |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | *foljom | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰolh₃yom | leaf |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰleh₃- | bloom, flower |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰel- | to sound; to speak, roar, bark; shiny, white; to... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰōl- | — |
Words derived from “porthole”