porter
/ˈpɔɹtɚ/noun, verb
porter is spelled P-O-R-T-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 9.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,338th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, porter means “A person who carries luggage and related objects; (historically) one who carried luggage or did manual labour in the transloading of cargo” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of porter is porters.
How many letters and syllables are in porter?
| Letters | 6: P-O-R-T-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 9.5 times per million words; the 7,338th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is porter?
Porter appears 9.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,338th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce porter?
- US /ˈpɔɹtɚ/
- UK /ˈpɔːtə/
- /ˈpo(ː)ɹtɚ/
Porter has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-porter.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with porter?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as porter from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɹtəɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: report, troper.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of porter
- porters plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- portering participle, present
- portered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does porter mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A person who carries luggage and related objects; (historically) one who carried luggage or did manual labour in the transloading of cargo.
goods porter
- 2
An ant having the specialized role of carrying.
- 3
One who ports software (makes it usable on another platform).
- 4
A person in control of the entrance to a building.
- 5
An employee who clears and cleans tables and puts bowling balls away.
- 6
A strong, dark ale, originally favored by porters (etymology 1, sense 1), similar to a stout but less strong.
- 7
IrelandStout (malt brew).
verb
- 1
To serve as a porter; to carry.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Porter in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | porteur , porter |
| German | Gepäckträger , Pförtner, Portier |
| Portuguese | carregador , pórter , porteiro |
| Spanish | mozo, cargador, changador, changarín, faquín, fardero |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does porter come from?
From Middle English porter, portere, portier, borrowed from Anglo-Norman portour and Old French porteor, from Late Latin portātor, from past participle of Latin portāre (“to carry”). By surface analysis, port (“to carry”) + -er.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).