n. The government of the Ottoman Empire. [French, short for la Sublime Porte, the High Gate (the main gate of the palace complex of the Ottoman sultan in Istanbul), the Porte : sublime, sublime + porte, gate (from Old French; see PORT3) (translation of Ottoman Turkish Bāb-ı 'ālī : Arabic bāb, gate + Persian -i, suffix connecting a noun to its qualifier + Arabic 'ālī, high).] |
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