"P" Word Origins

por favor

Spanish

Spanish, literally 'for favour', from Latin pro meaning 'for' and favor meaning 'goodwill'.

porcelain

Italian

From Old Italian porcellana, originally meaning "cowrie shell" — the material was named for its resemblance to the glossy surface of the shell.

porch

Latin

From Old French porche, from Latin porticus ("portico") — the same root that gives us "portico" and "portal".

porcupine

Latin

From Old French porc-espin, literally "spine pig" — from Latin porcus ("pig") and spinus ("spine").

pore

Latin

From Old French pore, from Latin porus, from Greek poros ("passage").

porgy

Spanish

From Portuguese or Spanish pargo, ultimately from Greek phagros ("sea bream").

pork

Latin

From Old French porc, ultimately from Latin porcus ("pig, hog"). The political sense comes from the older term "pork barrel".

porker

Origin

From pork + -er. * (obese person; police officer): Carried over from the same senses of pig. * (a lie): Extension of the rhyming slang pork pie.

porkish

Origin

From pork + -ish.

porky

Origin

From "pork" plus "-y". The slang sense for a lie comes from Cockney rhyming slang: "pork pies" rhymes with "lies".

porn

Origin · 1900

A clipped form of "pornography", first recorded in the mid-20th century.

porno

Origin · 1900

A clipping of "pornographic" or "pornography", used since the mid-20th century.

pornographer

Origin

From "pornography" plus the agent suffix "-er".

pornographic

Origin

From "pornography" plus the adjective suffix "-ic".

pornography

French

Borrowed from French pornographie, itself built from Greek roots meaning "writing about prostitutes".

porous

Latin

From Old French poros, ultimately from Latin porus ("an opening"), the same root as "pore".

porpoise

Vulgar Latin

From Old French porpois, from Vulgar Latin porcopiscis, literally "hog-fish" — from porcus ("pig") and piscis ("fish").

porridge

Origin

A variant of "pottage" (a thick stew), influenced by the old word "porray" for a leek stew. The prison-sentence slang comes from the tradition of serving porridge to prisoners at breakfast.

Porsche

German · 1931

Named after Ferdinand Porsche, the German engineer who founded the company in 1931.

port

Latin

From Old English port, borrowed from Latin portus ("harbour"). The "left side of a ship" sense arose because old vessels steered with an oar on the right and so had to dock on their left side.

porta

Latin

From Latin porta, "gate" or "entrance" — the same root as "port" and "portal."

portable

Latin

From Latin portabilis, built from portare ("to carry") plus the suffix "-able".

portal

Medieval Latin

From Old French portal and Medieval Latin portale, from Latin porta ("gate, door").

portative

Origin

From Middle French portatif, corresponding to port + -ative.

Porte

Latin

From French porte ("gate"), translating the Ottoman Turkish name for the "Exalted Gate" of the sultan's palace, where government business was conducted.

portend

Origin

Borrowed from Latin portendere (“to foretell”), from por- (“forward”) + tendere (“to stretch”).

portent

Origin

Borrowed from Latin portentum, participle of portendere, from portendō (“to predict, to foretell”).

portentous

Origin

Of multiple origins: * Borrowed from Latin portentōsus, from portentus (“predicted”) + -ōsus. Compare earlier portentuous (via Middle English from Latin portentuōsus). By surface analysis, portent + -ous. * Borrowed from French portentueux

porter

Latin

From Old French porteor, from Latin portare ("to carry"), formed as "port" (carry) plus the agent suffix "-er". The beer, originally popular with London street porters, takes its name from the same word.

porterhouse

Origin

From "porter" (the dark beer) plus "house" — these pubs later became known for the steak cut named after them.

portfolio

Latin · 1930

From Italian portafoglio ("carry-sheet"), from Latin portare ("to carry") and folium ("leaf, sheet"). The "government responsibility" sense developed later, by the 1930s.

porthole

Origin

From "port" (an opening) plus "hole."

Portia

Latin

From the Latin family name Porcia, feminine form of Porcius, ultimately from porcus ("pig"). The name is now most associated with the clever heroine of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, and one of Uranus's moons is named after her.

portico

Italian

From Italian portico, from Latin porticus, "covered walk, porch", related to porta, "gate, door".

portion

Latin

From Old French porcion, from Latin portionem ("a share, part"), related to pars ("part").

Portland

Old English

From Old English Portland, literally "port" + "land" — land by a harbor. The Oregon and Maine cities were both named after English places.

portly

Origin

From an archaic sense of port (“manner in which a person carries himself; bearing; deportment; carriage”) + -ly.

Portman

Origin

From "port" plus "man" — originally an occupational name for an official of a port town.

portmanteau

French

From French portemanteau, from porter, "to carry", and manteau, "cloak" — originally a case for carrying clothes. Lewis Carroll used the image in Through the Looking-Glass for words that pack two meanings into one.

porto

Portuguese

From Portuguese Porto, the city that gave port wine its name.

portobello

Origin · 1985

First used commercially around 1985, likely a marketing name; possibly connected to Portobello Road in London.

portrait

Latin

From Middle French portraict, based on portraire ("to portray"), from Latin protrahere.

portray

Middle French

From Middle French portraire, "to draw a likeness of."

portrayal

Origin

From "portray" plus the suffix "-al."

portrayed

Old French

From portray, from Old French portraire meaning 'to draw forth or depict', from Latin protrahere.

Portsmouth

Old English

From Old English Portesmuða, literally "the mouth of the harbor."

Portugal

Latin

From Latin Portus Cale, the old name for the area around modern Vila Nova de Gaia, combining "port" with a name of disputed origin.

Portuguese

Portuguese

From Portuguese português, built from "Portugal" plus "-ese."