porter

UK: /ˈpɔːtə/ US: /ˈpɔrtɚ/ ,(pôr′tər, pōr′-)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

por•ter¹ /ˈpɔrtɚ/   n. [countable]

1. one hired to carry baggage, as at a hotel.
2. one who does cleaning, repairs, etc., in a building, store, etc.

See -port-.
por•ter² /ˈpɔrtɚ/   n. [countable]

1. one who has charge of a door or gate;
   doorkeeper.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

por•ter¹  (pôr′tər, pōr′-), n. 

1. a person hired to carry burdens or baggage, as at a railroad station or a hotel.
2. a person who does cleaning and maintenance work in a building, factory, store, etc.
3. Rail Transport an attendant in a railroad parlor car or sleeping car.

• Late Latin portātōr- (stem of portātor). See port⁵, -or²
• Middle French porteour
• Middle English, variant of portour 1350–1400

por•ter²  (pôr′tər, pōr′-), n. 

1. a person who has charge of a door or gate;
   doorkeeper.
2. Religion [Rom. Cath. Ch.] ostiary (def. 1).

• Late Latin portārius gatekeeper. See port⁴, -er²
• Anglo-French
• Middle English 1250–1300

por•ter³  (pôr′tər, pōr′-), n. 

1. Wine a heavy, dark-brown ale made with malt browned by drying at a high temperature.

• short for porter's ale, apparently origin, originally brewed for porters 1720–30

Por•ter  (pôr′tər, pōr′-), n. 

1. Biographical Cole, 1893–1964, U.S. composer.
2. Biographical David, 1780–1843, U.S. naval officer.
his son, David Dix•on  (dik′sən), 1813–91, Union naval officer in the Civil War.
3. Biographical Gene (Gene Stratton Porter), 1868–1924, U.S. novelist.
4. Biographical Sir George, born 1920, British chemist: Nobel prize 1967.
5. Biographical Katherine Anne, 1890–1980, U.S. writer.
6. Biographical Noah, 1811–92, U.S. educator, writer, and lexicographer.
7. Biographical Rodney Robert, 1917–85, British biochemist: Nobel prize for medicine 1972.
8. Biographical William Sydney ("O. Henry''), 1862–1910, U.S. short-story writer.
9. a male given name.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

porter / ˈpɔːtə/ noun

1. a person employed to carry luggage, parcels, supplies, etc, esp at a railway station or hotel
2. (in hospitals) a person employed to move patients from place to place
3. a railway employee who waits on passengers, esp in a sleeper

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French portour, from Late Latin portātōr, from Latin portāre to carry

porter / ˈpɔːtə/ noun

1. a person in charge of a gate or door; doorman or gatekeeper
2. a person employed by a university or college as a caretaker and doorkeeper who also answers enquiries
3. a person in charge of the maintenance of a building, esp a block of flats

Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French portier, from Late Latin portārius doorkeeper, from Latin porta door

porter / ˈpɔːtə/ noun

1. a dark sweet ale brewed from black malt

Etymology: 18th Century: shortened from porter's ale, apparently because it was a favourite beverage of porters

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Porter / ˈpɔːtə/ noun

1. Cole. 1893–1964, US composer and lyricist of musical comedies. His most popular songs include Night and Day and Let's do It
2. George, Baron Porter of Luddenham. 1920–2002, British chemist, who shared a Nobel prize for chemistry in 1967 for his work on flash photolysis
3. Katherine Anne. 1890–1980, US short-story writer and novelist. Her best-known collections of stories are Flowering Judas (1930) and Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1939)
4. Peter. 1929–2010, Australian poet, lived in Britain
5. Rodney Robert. 1917–85, British biochemist: shared the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine 1972 for determining the structure of an antibody
6. William Sidney, original name of O. Henry
   See O. Henry