1. To indicate (events, misfortunes, etc.) as in future; to foreshow; to foretoken; to bode; — now used esp.
of unpropitious signs. Bacon.
Many signs portended a dark and stormy day.
Macaulay. 2. To stretch out before. [R.] "Doomed to feel the great Idomeneus' portended steel." Pope.
Syn. — To foreshow; foretoken; betoken; forebode; augur; presage; foreshadow; threaten.
Portension
(Por*ten"sion) n. The act of foreshowing; foreboding. [R.] Sir T. Browne.
Portent
(Por*tent") n. [L. portentum. See Portend.] That which portends, or foretoken; esp., that which
portends evil; a sign of coming calamity; an omen; a sign. Shak.
My loss by dire portents the god foretold.
Dryden. Portentive
(Por*tent"ive) a. Presaging; foreshadowing.
Portentous
(Por*tent"ous) a. [L. portentosus.]
1. Of the nature of a portent; containing portents; foreshadowing, esp. foreshadowing ill; ominous.
For, I believe, they are portentous things.
Shak.
Victories of strange and almost portentous splendor.
Macaulay. 2. Hence: Monstrous; prodigious; wonderful; dreadful; as, a beast of portentous size. Roscommon.
— Por*tent"ous*ly, adv. — Por*tent"ous*ness, n.
Porter
(Por"ter) n. [F. portier, L. portarius, from porta a gate, door. See Port a gate.] A man who
has charge of a door or gate; a doorkeeper; one who waits at the door to receive messages. Shak.
To him the porter openeth.
John x. 3. Porter
(Por"ter), n. [F. porteur, fr. porter to carry, L. portare. See Port to carry.]
1. A carrier; one who carries or conveys burdens, luggage, etc.; for hire.
2. (Forging) A bar of iron or steel at the end of which a forging is made; esp., a long, large bar, to the
end of which a heavy forging is attached, and by means of which the forging is lifted and handled in
hammering and heating; — called also porter bar.
3. A malt liquor, of a dark color and moderately bitter taste, possessing tonic and intoxicating qualities.
Porter is said to be so called as having been first used chiefly by the London porters, and this application
of the word is supposed to be not older than 1750.
Porterage
(Por"ter*age) n.
1. The work of a porter; the occupation of a carrier or of a doorkeeper.
2. Money charged or paid for the carriage of burdens or parcels by a porter.
Porteress
(Por"ter*ess), n. See Portress.
Porterhouse
(Por"ter*house), n. A house where porter is sold.
