porter [ME] The porter who acts as a doorman at the entrance of a hotel and the one who carries luggage are completely different words. The former comes from porta, the Latin word for a gate or a door which is also the source of portal [LME] and porthole [M16th], as well as of port [OE] in the sense of ‘socket’ as in a computer port. The other comes from Latin portare ‘to carry’, and so is related to words like portable [LME], and portfolio [E18th], adopted from Italian portafogli, from portare ‘carry’, and foglio ‘leaf, sheet of paper’. Portmanteau [M16th] for a travelling bag is from French portemanteau, from porter ‘carry’ and manteau ‘mantle’. The drink porter [E18th], a dark brown bitter beer, was originally made for porters and others whose work involved carrying loads.