Portage Meaning
/ˈpɔː(ɹ)tɪd͡ʒ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn act of carrying, especially the carrying of a boat overland between two waterways.
nounThe route used for such carrying.
Sentence Examples
We have a few miles of portage.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The explorers had to carry their canoes over land between rivers, a difficult ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The canoeists carried their boats overland during the ____ between the two lakes.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English portage, borrowed from Middle French portage, from Old French portage, from Early Medieval Latin portāticum. By surface analysis, port (“to carry”) + -age.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"gaining thereby the charge of portage; was a great benefit to them"
— 1661, John Fell, The life of the most learned, reverend, and pious Dr. H. Hammond:
"Onely the shippe that came thither payde a small thing according to her portage, aud euery yeere in the port of Orisa were laden fiue and twentie or thirtie ships great and smal with ryce and diuers sortes of fine white bumbaste cloth[…]"
— 1589, Richard Hakluyt, The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, […], London: […] George Bishop and Ralph Newberie, deputies to Christopher Barker, […], →OCLC:
"Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean."
— 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
"Two months have now elapsed since the work was first begun, viz: from the 20th of last December to the 20th instant, fully one month of which has been occupied in exploring, and the remainder in camping, portageing and measuring; […]"
— 1858 February 22, G. F. Baillargé, “I.”, in General Report of the Commissioners of Public Works, for the Year Ending 31st December, 1857: Furnished in Compliance with the Provisions of the Act, 9 Vict. Cap. 7, Toronto, Ont.: John Lovell, […], pages 74–75:
"You’d better leave it to him to decide whether it’s worth lumping a canoe along and portageing."
— 1958, Hammond Innes, “The Labrador Railway”, in The Land God Gave to Cain: A Novel of the Labrador, London: Collins […], page 171:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The explorers had to carry their canoes over land between rivers, a difficult ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The canoeists carried their boats overland during the ____ between the two lakes.