Porch
/pɔːrtʃ/noun
A covered shelter projecting in front of the entrance to a building.
Did you know?Porch traces back to Latin *porticus*, a colonnaded walkway from *porta* meaning “gate,” so the word’s history is literally about standing at the boundary of entry and power.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*per-
“to cross over, pass through”
Latin
Latin
porta
“gate, entrance”
Latin
Latin
porticus
“a covered walkway or colonnade, especially at an entrance”
Old French
Old French
porche
“porch, portico, entrance shelter”
Middle English
English
porche
“a porch or covered entrance”
Modern English
English
porch
“a covered shelter attached to the front of a building”