Etymology 1

Noun

1. A place on the coast at which ships can shelter, or dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.
2. A town or city containing such a place.
3. The left-hand side of a vessel when one is facing the front.

Adjective

1. Of or relating to port, the left-hand side of a vessel.

   on the port side

Etymology 2

Noun

1. An entryway or gate; a portal.

   Him I accuse/The city ports by this hath enter'd — Shakespeare, Coriolanus (1623), V.vi.

   And from their ivory port the Cherubim,/Forth issuing at the accustomed hour, — Milton, Paradise Lost (1667), book IV

2. An opening or doorway in the side of a ship, especially for boarding or loading; an embrasure through which a cannon may be discharged; a porthole.

   ...her ports being within sixteen inches of the water... — Sir W. Raleigh

3. A space between two stones wide enough for a delivered stone or bowl to pass through.
4. An opening where a connection (such as a pipe) is made.
5. A logical or physical construct in and from which data are transferred.
6. A female connector of an electronic device, into which a cable's male connector can be inserted.

Etymology 3

Verb

1. To carry, bear, or transport. See .

   They are easily ported by boat into other shires. — Fuller, The History of the Worthies of England

2. To hold or carry (a weapon) with both hands so that it lays diagonally across the front of the body, with the barrel or similar part near the left shoulder and the right hand grasping the small of the stock; or, to throw (the weapon) into this position on command.

   Port arms!

   ...the angelic squadron...began to hem him round with ported spears. — Milton, Paradise Lost (1667), book IV

3. To adapt, modify, or create a new version of, a program so that it works on a different platform; to adapt a console video game title to be sold and played on another brand of console.

Noun

1. Something used to carry a thing, especially a frame for wicks in candle-making.
2. The manner in which a person carries himself; bearing; deportment; carriage. See also .

   And of his port as meeke as is a mayde. — Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, line 69

   ..the necessities of pomp, grandeur, and a suitable port in the world. — Robert South

3. The position of a weapon when ported; a rifle position executed by throwing the weapon diagonally across the front of the body, with the right hand grasping the small of the stock and the barrel sloping upward and crossing the point of the left shoulder.
4. A program that has been adapted, modified, or recoded so that it works on a different platform from the one for which it was created; the act of this adapting.

   Gamers can't wait until a port of the title is released on the new system.

   The latest port of the database software is the worst since we made the changeover.

5. (FreeBSD) A set of files used to build and install a binary executable file from the source code of an application.

Etymology 4

Noun

1. A type of very sweet fortified wine, mostly dark red, traditionally made in Portugal.