Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PORT, n. [Fr. from L. portus; Sp. puerto; It. porto; Arm. porz; W. porth; from L. porto, to carry, Gr. φορεω, L. fero, Eng. to bear. The Welsh porth unites the significations of L. porta and portus, and the Gr. φορεω, and μορευομαι are probably of one family. The primary sense of L. portus, Eng. port, is probably an entrance, place of entrance or passage.]

1. A harbor; a haven; any bay, cove, inlet or recess of the sea, or of a lake or the mouth of a river, which ships or vessels can enter, and where they can lie safe from injury by storms. Ports may be natural or artificial, and sometimes works of art, as piers and moles, are added to the natural shores of a place to render a harbor more safe. The word port is generally applied to spacious harbors much resorted to by ships, as, the port of London or of Boston, and not to small bays or coves which are entered occasionally, or in stress of weather only. Harbor includes all places of safety for shipping.
2. A gate. [L. porta.] From their ivory port the cherubim / Forth issued. – Milton.
3. An embrasure or opening in the side of a ship of war, through which cannon are discharged; a port-hole. – Ralegh.
4. The lid which shuts a port-hole. – Mar. Dict.
5. Carriage; air; mien; manner of movement or walk; demeanor; external appearance; as, a proud port; the port of a gentleman. Their port was more than human. – Milton. With more terrific port / Thou walkest. – Philips.
6. In seamen's language, the larboard or left side of a ship; as in the phrase, “the ship heels to port.” “Port the helm,” is an order to put the helm to the larboard side.
7. A kind of wine made in Portugal; so called from Oporto. – Encyc. Port of the voice, in music, the faculty or habit of making the shakes, passages and diminutions, in which the beauty of a song consists. – Encyc.