I. ˈpōr]d. ə l, ˈpȯr], ˈpōə], ˈpȯ(ə)], ]t ə l\ noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Medieval Latin portale city gate, porch, from neuter of portalis of a gate, from Latin porta gate + -alis -al — more at ford
1. : door , gate , entrance ; especially : a grand or imposing one
2.
a. : the whole architectural composition surrounding and including the doorways and porches of a church
the church door … is set in a remarkable portal — M.C.A.Henniker
b. : a large roofed opening in a Spanish-American building : porch
c. : the corner of a room separated by wainscoting to form a short passage to another room
3.
a. : the space between the first two principal trusses at each end of a trussed bridge
b. : any vertical space between two uprights included between two horizontals (as of floor and ceiling) which must be kept open for free communication in a building of skeleton construction
c. : the entrance to a tunnel
4. : a communicating part or area of an organism: as
a. : portal vein
b. : the point at which something enters the body
portals of infection
c. : the connecting passage between foregut and midgut and midgut and hindgut in the vertebrate embryo
II. adjective
Etymology: New Latin porta + English -al
1. : of or relating to the transverse fissure on the underside of the liver where most of the vessels enter
2. : of, relating to, carried out by, or being any large vein that collects blood from one part of the body and distributes it in another part through a capillary network — see portal vein , renal portal vein