Portfolio Port·fol"io noun [ French portefeuille ; porter to carry + feuille a leaf. See Port to carry, and Folio .] 1. A portable case for holding loose papers, prints, drawings, etc.

2. Hence: The office and functions of a minister of state or member of the cabinet; as, to receive the portfolio of war; to resign the portfolio .

Portglave Port"glave noun [ French porte- glaive ; porter to carry + glaive a sword.] A sword bearer. [ Obsolete]

Portgreve, Portgrave Port"greve`, Port"grave` }[ Anglo-Saxon portgerēfa ; port a harbor + gerēfa a reeve or sheriff. See Reeve a steward, and confer Portreeve .] In old English law, the chief magistrate of a port or maritime town.; a portreeve. [ Obsolete] Fabyan.

Porthole Port"hole` noun (Nautical) An embrasure in a ship's side. See 3d Port .

Porthook Port"hook` noun (Nautical) One of the iron hooks to which the port hinges are attached. J. Knowles.

Porthors Port"hors` noun See Portass . [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Portico Por"ti·co noun ; plural Porticoes or Porticos . [ Italian , Latin porticus . See Porch .] (Architecture) A colonnade or covered ambulatory, especially in classical styles of architecture; usually, a colonnade at the entrance of a building.

Porticoed Por"ti·coed adjective Furnished with a portico.

Portière Por`tière"" noun [ French, from porte gate, door. See Port a gate.] A curtain hanging across a doorway.

Portigue Por"ti·gue noun See Portague . Beau. & Fl.

Portingal Por"tin·gal adjective Of or pertaining to Portugal; Portuguese. [ Obsolete] -- noun A Portuguese. [ Obsolete]

Portion Por"tion noun [ French, from Latin portio , akin to pars , partis , a part. See Part , noun ] 1. That which is divided off or separated, as a part from a whole; a separated part of anything.

2. A part considered by itself, though not actually cut off or separated from the whole.

These are parts of his ways; but how little a portion is heard of him!

Job xxvi. 14.

Portions and parcels of the dreadful past.

Tennyson.

3. A part assigned; allotment; share; fate.

The lord of that servant . . . will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

Luke xii. 46.

Man's portion is to die and rise again.

Keble.

4. The part of an estate given to a child or heir, or descending to him by law, and distributed to him in the settlement of the estate; an inheritance.

Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.

Luke xv. 12.

5. A wife's fortune; a dowry. Shak.

Syn. -- Division; share; parcel; quantity; allotment; dividend. -- Portion , Part . Part is generic, having a simple reference to some whole . Portion has the additional idea of such a division as bears reference to an individual, or is allotted to some object; as, a portion of one's time; a portion of Scripture.

Portion Por"tion transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Portioned ; present participle & verbal noun Portioning .] 1. To separate or divide into portions or shares; to parcel; to distribute.

And portion to his tribes the wide domain.

Pope.

2. To endow with a portion or inheritance.

Him portioned maids, apprenticed orphans, blest.

Pope.

Portioner Por"tion·er noun 1. One who portions.

2. (Eccl.) See Portionist , 2.

Portionist Por"tion·ist noun 1. A scholar at Merton College, Oxford, who has a certain academical allowance or portion; -- corrupted into postmaster . Shipley.

2. (Eccl.) One of the incumbents of a benefice which has two or more rectors or vicars.

Portionless Por"tion·less adjective Having no portion.

Portise Por"tise noun See Portass . [ Obsolete]

Portland cement Port"land ce·ment" A cement having the color of the Portland stone of England, made by calcining an artificial mixture of carbonate of lime and clay, or sometimes certain natural limestones or chalky clays. It contains a large proportion of clay, and hardens under water.

Portland stone Port"land stone" A yellowish-white calcareous freestone from the Isle of Portland in England, much used in building.

Portland vase Port"land vase` A celebrated cinerary urn or vase found in the tomb of the Emperor Alexander Severus. It is owned by the Duke of Portland, and kept in the British Museum.

Portlast Port"last noun (Nautical) The portoise. See Portoise .

Portliness Port"li·ness noun 1. The quality or state of being portly; dignity of mien or of personal appearance; stateliness.

Such pride is praise; such portliness is honor.

Spenser.

2. Bulkiness; corpulence.

Portly Port"ly adjective [ From Port demeanor.] 1. Having a dignified port or mien; of a noble appearance; imposing.

2. Bulky; corpulent. "A portly personage." Dickens.

Portman Port"man noun ; plural Portmen An inhabitant or burgess of a port, esp. of one of the Cinque Ports.

Portmanteau Port·man"teau noun ; plural Portmanteaus . [ French porte-manteau ; porter to carry + manteau a cloak, mantle. See Port to carry, and Mantle .] A bag or case, usually of leather, for carrying wearing apparel, etc., on journeys. Thackeray.

Portmantle Port·man"tle noun A portmanteau. [ Obsolete]

Portmote Port"mote` noun In old English law, a court, or mote, held in a port town. [ Obsolete] Blackstone.

Portoir Por"toir noun [ Old French , from porter to bear.] One who, or that which, bears; hence, one who, or that which, produces. [ Obsolete]

Branches . . . which were portoirs , and bare grapes.

Holland.

Portoise Por"toise noun [ Perhaps from Old French porteis portative, portable.] (Nautical) The gunwale of a ship.

To lower the yards a-portoise , to lower them to the gunwale. -- To ride a portoise , to ride an anchor with the lower yards and topmasts struck or lowered, as in a gale of wind.

Portos Por"tos noun See Portass . [ Obsolete]

Portpane Port"pane noun [ From Latin portare to carry + panis bread; probably through French.] A cloth for carrying bread, so as not to touch it with the hands. [ Obsolete]

Portrait Por"trait noun [ French, originally past participle of portraire to portray. See Portray .] 1. The likeness of a person, painted, drawn, or engraved; commonly, a representation of the human face painted from real life.

In portraits , the grace, and, we may add, the likeness, consists more in the general air than in the exact similitude of every feature.

Sir J. Reynolds.

» The meaning of the word is sometimes extended so as to include a photographic likeness.

2. Hence, any graphic or vivid delineation or description of a person; as, a portrait in words.

Portrait bust , or Portrait statue , a bust or statue representing the actual features or person of an individual; -- in distinction from an ideal bust or statue .

Portrait Por"trait transitive verb To portray; to draw. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Portraitist Por"trait·ist noun A portrait painter. [ R.] Hamerton.

Portraiture Por"trai·ture noun [ French portraiture .] 1. A portrait; a likeness; a painted resemblance; hence, that which is copied from some example or model.

For, by the image of my cause, I see
The portraiture of his.

Shak.

Divinity maketh the love of ourselves the pattern; the love of our neighbors but the portraiture .

Bacon.

2. Pictures, collectively; painting. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

3. The art or practice of making portraits. Walpole.

Portraiture Por"trai·ture transitive verb To represent by a portrait, or as by a portrait; to portray. [ R.] Shaftesbury.

Portray Por·tray" transitive verb [ Written also pourtray .] [ imperfect & past participle portrayed ; present participle & verbal noun Portraying .] [ Middle English pourtraien , Old French portraire , pourtraire , French portraire , from Latin protrahere , protractum , to draw or drag forth; pro forward, forth + trahere to draw. See Trace , transitive verb , and confer Protract .] 1. To paint or draw the likeness of; as, to portray a king on horseback.

Take a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem.

Ezek. iv. 1.

2. Hence, figuratively, to describe in words.

3. To adorn with pictures. [ R.]

Spear and helmets thronged, and shields
Various with boastful arguments potrayed .

Milton.

Portrayal Por·tray"al noun The act or process of portraying; description; delineation.

Portrayer Por·tray"er noun One who portrays. Chaucer.

Portreeve Port"reeve` noun A port warden.

Portress Por"tress noun A female porter. Milton.

Portsale Port"sale` noun [ Port gate + sale .] Public or open sale; auction. [ Obsolete] Holland.

Portuary Por"tu·a·ry noun [ Confer Portass .] (R. C. Ch.) A breviary. [ Eng.]

Portuguese Por"tu·guese adjective [ Confer French portugais , Spanish portugues , Portuguese portuguez .] Of or pertaining to Portugal, or its inhabitants. -- noun sing. & plural A native or inhabitant of Portugal; people of Portugal.

Portuguese man-of-war . (Zoology) See Physalia .

Portulaca Por`tu·la"ca noun [ Latin , purslane.] (Botany) A genus of polypetalous plants; also, any plant of the genus.

» Portulaca oleracea is the common purslane. P. grandiflora is a South American herb, widely cultivated for its showy crimson, scarlet, yellow, or white, ephemeral blossoms.

Portulacaceous Por`tu·la·ca"ceous adjective (Botany) Of or pertaining to a natural order of plants ( Portulacaceæ ), of which Portulaca is the type, and which includes also the spring beauty ( Claytonia ) and other genera.

Porwigle Por"wi`gle noun See Polliwig .

Pory Por"y adjective Porous; as, pory stone. [ R.] Dryden.

Posé Po`sé" adjective [ French, placed, posed.] (Her.) Standing still, with all the feet on the ground; -- said of the attitude of a lion, horse, or other beast.

Pose Pose noun [ Anglo-Saxon gepose ; of uncertain origin; confer W. pas a cough, Sanskrit kās to cough, and English wheeze .] A cold in the head; catarrh. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

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