portage

See also: Portage

English

Etymology

From Middle English portage, borrowed from Old French portage, from Late Latin portāticum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɔː(ɹ)tɪd͡ʒ/

Noun

portage (countable and uncountable, plural portages)

1. An act of carrying, especially the carrying of a boat overland between two waterways.
2. The route used for such carrying.
3. A charge made for carrying something.
   • 1661, John Fell, The life of the most learned, reverend, and pious Dr. H. Hammond:

     gaining thereby the charge of portage; was a great benefit to them

4. Carrying capacity; tonnage.
   • 1589, Richard Hakluyt, The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, […], London: […] George Bishop and Ralph Newberie, deputies to Christopher Barker, […], →OCLC:

     Onely the shippe that came thither payde a small thing according to her portage, aud euery yeere in the port of Orisa were laden fiue and twentie or thirtie ships great and smal with ryce and diuers sortes of fine white bumbaste cloth […]

5. The wages paid to a sailor when in port, or for a voyage.
6. A porthole.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
     Let pry through the portage of the head
     Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
     As fearfully as doth a galled rock
     O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
     Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.

Derived terms

• Portage County
• Portage la Prairie

Translations

route used for portage

• German: Portage (de) f, Umtragung f, Umtragungsstrecke f
• Maori: tōanga waka
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: båtdrag n

• Russian: волок (ru) (volok)
• Swedish: dragställe n

Verb

portage (third-person singular simple present portages, present participle portaging or portageing, simple past and past participle portaged)

1. (nautical) To carry a boat overland
   • 1858 February 22, G. F. Baillargé, “I.”, in General Report of the Commissioners of Public Works, for the Year Ending 31st December, 1857: Furnished in Compliance with the Provisions of the Act, 9 Vict. Cap. 7, Toronto, Ont.: John Lovell, […], pages 74–75:

     Two months have now elapsed since the work was first begun, viz: from the 20th of last December to the 20th instant, fully one month of which has been occupied in exploring, and the remainder in camping, portageing and measuring; […]

   • 1958, Hammond Innes, “The Labrador Railway”, in The Land God Gave to Cain: A Novel of the Labrador, London: Collins […], page 171:

     You’d better leave it to him to decide whether it’s worth lumping a canoe along and portageing.

   • 1996, Edward Mann, “Camp Counsellor”, in A Mann for All Seasons: A Memoir, Toronto, Ont.: Lugus Publications, →ISBN, page 28:

     Those who haven’t experienced an overnight canoe trip can’t imagine the joys, tensions and learning packed into three days of canoeing, portageing, cooking meals in the open and sleeping under the stars.

See also

• porterage

Anagrams

• potager, top gear

Old French

Etymology

At least in sense 2, from Late Latin portāticum. By surface analysis, porte +‎ -age.

Noun

portage oblique singular, m (oblique plural portages, nominative singular portages, nominative plural portage)

1. act of carrying a heavy load
2. tax paid for the transport of goods
3. tonnage (carrying capacity of a ship)

Descendants

• → English: portage
• → Galician: portaxe
• → Italian: portaggio
• → Portuguese: portagem
• → Spanish: portaje

References

• portage in Anglo-Norman Dictionary, Aberystwyth University, 2022