6  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Portal  \Por"tal\,  n.  [OF.  portal,  F.  portail,  LL  portale,  fr 
  L.  porta  a  gate.  See  {Port}  a  gate.] 
  1.  A  door  or  gate;  hence  a  way  of  entrance  or  exit 
  especially  one  that  is  grand  and  imposing. 
 
  Thick  with  sparkling  orient  gems  The  portal  shone. 
  --Milton. 
 
  From  out  the  fiery  portal  of  the  east.  --Shak. 
 
  2.  (Arch.) 
  a  The  lesser  gate,  where  there  are  two  of  different 
  dimensions. 
  b  Formerly,  a  small  square  corner  in  a  room  separated 
  from  the  rest  of  the  apartment  by  wainscoting,  forming 
  a  short  passage  to  another  apartment. 
  c  By  analogy  with  the  French  portail,  used  by  recent 
  writers  for  the  whole  architectural  composition  which 
  surrounds  and  includes  the  doorways  and  porches  of  a 
  church. 
 
  3.  (Bridge  Building)  The  space,  at  one  end  between  opposite 
  trusses  when  these  are  terminated  by  inclined  braces. 
 
  4.  A  prayer  book  or  breviary;  a  portass.  [Obs.] 
 
  {Portal  bracing}  (Bridge  Building),  a  combination  of  struts 
  and  ties  which  lie  in  the  plane  of  the  inclined  braces  at 
  a  portal,  serving  to  transfer  wind  pressure  from  the  upper 
  parts  of  the  trusses  to  an  abutment  or  pier  of  the  bridge. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Portal  \Por"tal\,  a.  (Anat.) 
  Of  or  pertaining  to  a  porta,  especially  the  porta  of  the 
  liver;  as  the  portal  vein,  which  enters  the  liver  at  the 
  porta,  and  divides  into  capillaries  after  the  manner  of  an 
  artery. 
 
  Note:  Portal  is  applied  to  other  veins  which  break  up  into 
  capillaries;  as  the  renal  portal  veins  in  the  frog. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  portal 
  n  :  an  grand  and  imposing  entrance  (often  extended 
  metaphorically);  "the  portals  of  the  cathedral";  "the 
  portals  of  heaven";  "the  portals  of  success" 
 
  From  U.S.  Gazetteer  (1990)  [gazetteer]: 
 
  Portal,  AZ 
  Zip  code(s):  85632 
  Portal,  GA  (town,  FIPS  62216) 
  Location:  32.53627  N,  81.93058  W 
  Population  (1990):  522  (229  housing  units) 
  Area:  4.5  sq  km  (land),  0.1  sq  km  (water) 
  Zip  code(s):  30450 
  Portal,  ND  (city,  FIPS  63740) 
  Location:  48.99561  N,  102.54787  W 
  Population  (1990):  192  (104  housing  units) 
  Area:  1.5  sq  km  (land),  0.0  sq  km  (water) 
  Zip  code(s):  58772 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  PORTAL 
 
  Process-Oriented  Real-Time  Algorithmic  Language. 
 
  ["PORTAL  -  A  Pascal-based  Real-Time  Programming  Language", 
  R.  Schild  in  Algorithmic  Languages,  J.W.  deBakker  et  al  eds, 
  N-H  1981]. 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  portal 
 
    A  {web  site}  that  aims  to  be  a  doorway"  to 
  the  {World-Wide  Web},  typically  offering  a  {search  engine} 
  and/or  links  to  useful  pages,  and  possibly  news  or  other 
  services.  These  services  are  usually  provided  for  free  in  the 
  hope  that  users  will  make  the  site  their  default  {home  page} 
  or  at  least  visit  it  often  Most  portals  on  the  {Internet} 
  exist  to  generate  advertising  income  for  their  owners,  others 
  may  be  focused  on  a  specific  group  of  users  and  may  be  part  of 
  an  {intranet}  or  {extranet}. 
 
  (2000-07-07) 
 
 

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