Portal
Webster's Dictionary [1]
(1): ( n.) The space, at one end, between opposite trusses when these are terminated by inclined braces.
(2): ( n.) The lesser gate, where there are two of different dimensions.
(3): ( n.) Formerly, a small square corner in a room separated from the rest of the apartment by wainscoting, forming a short passage to another apartment.
(4): ( a.) 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.
(5): ( n.) A prayer book or breviary; a portass.
(6): ( n.) 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.
(7): ( n.) A door or gate; hence, a way of entrance or exit, especially one that is grand and imposing.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [2]
(i.e. avant-portail), an architectural term, designates an external canopy raised in front of the principal doors of a church by way of shelter, whereas a porch is a projecting outwork independent of the door. (See Porch). There are fine examples of portals in the cathedrals of Rheims, Paris, St. Ouen's, and Rouen, Amiens, Sems, Senlis, anti Bourges, Westminster, and of smaller dimensions at churches in Salisbury, Lichfield, and Verona and other Italian towns. "Penniless porch," the resort of beggars, was the local name of the cemetery-gate of Wells.
