hall porter
1
6.5
- noun
- /hɔl ˈpɔrtər/
- UK
:
portero
- That afternoon, Pork visited another establishment quietly recommended by the hall porter.
Examples
-
It was left at the desk of the hall porter.
-
"I have an appointment with Mr. Cerruti," he said to the hall porter.
Fiction book (1998) -
The hall porter took their luggage to what would be their honeymoon suite, number 25 on the fourth floor, and Mac and Annabel walked into the small, cozy lounge.
Fiction book (1990) -
The hall porter greeted us at the entrance and helped carry our bags to our room.
-
When we arrived at the hotel, the hall porter provided us with a map of the city.
-
As we checked in, the hall porter offered to assist us with our luggage.
Synonyms
106
1.2
A person who stands at a building entrance to greet visitors and check who can enter
58
5.1
A person or group that controls who can enter a place and who can meet someone
16
4.3
A person who guards a building entrance and checks visitors
1
2.8
A person who guards a building entrance and controls who can enter
1
8.2
A person in uniform who opens doors and helps guests at hotels or theatres
1
2.5
A person who stands at an entrance to check people entering
A person who watches and opens the door of a church
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'hall' indicates the location and 'porter' denotes an attendant or luggage worker, so a 'hall porter' is readily interpreted as a porter who works at a hall or building entrance. This place+agent pattern is common and cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will very likely infer the correct meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
Hall porter comes from older buildings where a porter stood in the hall, the 'entrance' room, helped visitors and carried their bags. That's why today hall porter means a person who stands at the entrance and helps guests.