portal

Etymology

From Middle English portal, porttol, from Old French portal and Medieval Latin portāle, from porta.

noun

1. An entrance, entry point, or means of entry.
   Last, but very much not least, are the portals of the Ffestiniog Railway's Moelwyn Tunnel. The tunnel's story itself is well told - it was part of the preservationists' deviation required to get around a reservoir that had flooded the earlier route. But the reason for its inclusion here is that it is probably the most recently constructed, properly architected tunnel portal in Britain. August 26 2020, Tim Dunn, “Great railway bores of our time!”, in Rail, pages 48–49
   The local library, a portal of knowledge.
2. (Internet) A website or page that acts as an entrance to other websites or pages on the Internet.
   The new medical portal has dozens of topical categories containing links to hundreds of sites.
3. (anatomy) A short vein that carries blood into the liver.
4. (science fiction and fantasy) A magical or technological doorway leading to another location, period in time or dimension.
5. (architecture) A lesser gate, where there are two of different dimensions.
6. (architecture) Formerly, a small square corner in a room separated from the rest of an apartment by wainscoting, forming a short passage to another apartment.
7. A grandiose and often lavish entrance.
8. (bridge-building) The space, at one end, between opposite trusses when these are terminated by inclined braces.
9. A prayer book or breviary; a portass.

adj

1. (anatomy) Of or relating to a porta, especially the porta of the liver.
   the portal vein

verb

1. (science fiction, fantasy) To use a portal (magical or technological doorway).