Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PORCH, n. [Fr. porche, from L. porticus, from porta, a gate, entrance or passage, or from portus, a shelter.]

1. In architecture, a kind of vestibule supported by columns at the entrance of temples, halls, churches or other buildings. – Encyc.
2. A portico; a covered walk.
3. By way of distinction, the porch, was a public portico in Athens, where Zeno, the philosopher, taught his disciples. It was called ποικιλη, the painted porch, from the pictures of Polygnotus and other eminent painters, with which it was adorned. Hence, the Porch is equivalent to the school of the Stoics. – Enfield.