a door or gate; hence, a way of entrance or exit, especially one that is grand and imposing.-the lesser gate, where there are two of different dimensions.-formerly, a small square corner in a room separated from the rest of the apartment by wainscoting, forming a short passage to another apartment.-by analogy with the french portail, used by recent writers for the whole architectural composition which surrounds and includes the doorways and porches of a church.-the space, at one end, between opposite trusses when these are terminated by inclined braces.-a prayer book or breviary; a portass.-of or pertaining to a porta, especially the porta of the liver; as, the portal vein, which enters the liver at the porta, and divides into capillaries after the manner of an artery.