The Collaborative International Dictionary
Portass \Por"tass\, n. [OF. porte-hors a kind of prayer book, so
called from being portable; cf. LL. portiforium.]
A breviary; a prayer book. [Written variously portace,
portasse, portesse, portise, porthose, portos,
portus, portuse, etc.] [Obs.]
--Spenser. Camden.
By God and by this porthors I you swear.
--Chaucer.
Wikipedia
Portus was a large artificial harbour of Ancient Rome. Sited on the north bank of the north mouth of the Tiber, on the Tyrrhenian coast, it was established by Claudius and enlarged by Trajan to supplement the nearby port of Ostia.
The archaeological remains of the harbour are near the modern-day Italian village of Porto within the Comune of Fiumicino, just south of Rome in Lazio (ancient Latium).
Portus (which means "harbour" in Latin) may refer to Portus, a harbour of ancient Rome and an archaeological site.
It may also refer to:
People
- Franciscus Portus (1511 – 1581), a Greek-Italian classical scholar
- Portus Baxter (1806 – 1868), American politician
- Alexander Portus, 19th-century Australian politician
- William Portus Cullen (1855 – 1935), Australian chief justice and politician
- Leocán Portus (1923 – 2006), Chilean politician
Various Roman ports
- Portus Adurni, modern Portchester, England
- Portus Cale, modern Porto, Portugal
- Portus Dubris, modern Dover, England
- Itius Portus, perhaps Boulogne or Wissant, France
- Portus Julius, near Naples, Italy
Usage examples of "portus".
The third, Portus, was younger than his companions and carried himself like a noble.
Outside, she could hear Portus, Lynn Flewelltng Braknil, and Mercalle barking at their riders.
Sergeant Portus went down under his own horse, but there was no time to stop for him.
I knew for certain, four dead including Sergeant Portus, and thirteen still unaccounted for.
Senate had to wait in Portus Itius on the Gallic mainland until Caesar returned from his second expedition to the island at the western end of the world, a place almost as mysterious as Serica.
Trebatius walked on until he emerged from the camp gate at the far end of the Via Principalis and entered the village of Portus Itius.
Roman communications, the pinnace which rowed back and forth between Portus Itius and Britannia with a dozen kegs of nails going out and messages going in.
Then Caesar had gone straight to Portus Itius, intending to sail at once.
Caesar took more hostages, including the son of Indutiomarus, and then marched off back to Portus Itius and a minor gale out of the northwest that blew for twenty-five days without let.
He had called his legates together the moment he came ashore, which meant he wanted the eight legions at present encamped at Portus Itius shifted to their permanent winter quarters immediately.
It was eight hundred miles from Portus Itius to Rome along roads which were often rivers in Gaul of the Long-hairs until, way down in the Province, the highways of Via Domitia and Via Aemilia took over.
Tenth swung their feet in unison and sang their marching songs through the lands of the Morini around Portus Itius.
So on the march from Portus Itius to Samarobriva they swung their legs and sang their songs through the miles of silent, fallen giants, unperturbed.
Of food they had plenty, and it was more varied than Quintus Cicero for one had expected after that gloomy council in Portus Itius.
Tenth and the Ninth headed for the comfort and safety of Samarobriva, the Seventh for Portus Itius.