portcullis

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English[edit]

A portcullis in Stirling, Scotland
In heraldry, as in the arms of Westminster, portcullises are often depicted with chains attached.

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English portcolyse, from Old French porte colëice, from porte (“door”) + feminine of colëiz (“sliding”), ultimately from Latin colāre.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK) IPA(key): /pɔːtˈkʌl.ɪs/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • (US) IPA(key): /pɔɹtˈkʌl.ɪs/

Noun[edit]

portcullis (plural portcullises or portcullisses or (rare) portculli or (rare) portscullis)

  1. A gate in the form of a grating which is lowered into place at the entrance to a castle, fort, etc.
  2. (historical) An English coin of the reign of Elizabeth I, struck for the use of the East India Company, and bearing the figure of a portcullis on the reverse.

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

portcullis (third-person singular simple present portcullises or portcullisses, present participle portcullising or portcullissing, simple past and past participle portcullised or portcullissed)

  1. To obstruct with, or as with, a portcullis; to shut; to bar.

Further reading[edit]

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “portcullis”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

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