porte

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

Porte
    n 1: the Ottoman court in Constantinople [syn: {Porte}, {Sublime
         Porte}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Porte \Porte\, n. [F. porte a gate, L. porta. See {Port} a
   gate.]
   The Ottoman court; the government of the Turkish empire,
   officially called the {Sublime Porte}, from the gate (port)
   of the sultan's palace at which justice was administered.
   [1913 Webster]

from Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

PORTER. The name of an ancient English officer who bore or carried a rod 
before the justices. The door-keeper of the English parliament also bears 
this name. 
     2. One who is employed as a common carrier to carry goods from one 
place to another in the same town, is also called a porter. Such person is 
in general answerable as a common carrier. Story, Bailm. Sec. 496.

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