portiere
1
9.9
- noun
- /pɔrˈtɪr/
- Archaic
- With the portiere, at her cousin's in La Spezzia.
- hang portieres
- portieres—curtains
- heavy portiere
Examples
-
In the doorway to Mr. Zapiski's parlor hung worn purple portieres.
Fiction book (1997) -
Wilma looked at the pink cloth lampshades with beaded fringes and the heavy red portieres hanging from wooden rings.
Fiction book (1998) -
There were, in addition, ten portieres after old models by Le Brun and a dais designed by Blain de Fontenoy the Elder.
Academic text (1996) -
He peered through the beaded portiere and, finding that Jean-Baptiste was absent, he slouched in, with his hands in the pockets of his padded jacket.
Fiction book (1993) -
Mr. Dodgers glanced nervously around and drew the heavy portiere across the door.
-
In the doorway to Mr. Zapiski's parlor hung worn purple portieres.
-
Wilma looked at the pink cloth lampshades with beaded fringes and the heavy red portieres hanging from wooden rings.
How Heavy
Surface Forms
Etymology
Portiere comes from old French and Italian words from the Latin porta, which means 'door' and is the same root as portal ('doorway'). A portiere was originally the cloth hung at a door, so today it means a heavy curtain across a doorway used to decorate or stop drafts.