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port·cul·lis

(pôrt-kŭlĭs)

A grating of iron or wooden bars or slats, suspended in the gateway of a fortified place and lowered to block passage.

[Middle English port-colice, from Old French porte coleice, sliding gate : porte, gate (from Latin porta; see per-² in the Appendix of Indo-European roots) + coleice, feminine of coleis, sliding (from Vulgar Latin *cōlātīcius, from Latin cōlātus, past participle of cōlāre, to filter, strain, from cōlum, sieve).]

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portcullis

Bodiam Castle

East Sussex, England

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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