I.gen. sing. porti, Turp. ap. Non. 491, 20: dat. plur. portibus, Liv. 27, 30, 7 et saep.; a better form than portubus), m. por, whence porto, portitor.—Prop., an entrance; hence,
I. A harbor, haven, port: Lunai portus, Enn. ap. Pers. 6, 9 (Ann. v. 16 Vahl.): “portus Caietae,” Cic. Imp. Pomp. 12, 33; id. Rep. 3, 31, 43; cf.: “in Graeciae portus,” id. ib. 1, 3, 5: “e portu solvere,” to sail out of port, id. Mur. 2, 4; so, “e portu proficisci,” Caes. B. G. 3, 14: “ex portu exire,” id. B. C. 2, 4: “ex portu naves educere,” id. ib. 1, 57; “2, 22: portum linquere,” Verg. A. 3, 289: “petere,” to sail into, to enter, Cic. Planc. 39, 94; Verg. A. 1, 194: “capere,” Caes. B. G. 4, 36: “occupare,” Hor. Ep. 1, 6, 32: “in portum venire,” to enter the port, Cic. Sen. 19, 71; so, “in portum ex alto invehi,” id. Mur. 2, 4: “in portum deferri,” Auct. Her. 1, 11, 19: “in portum pervenire,” Caes. B. G. 4, 22: “in portum se recipere,” id. B. C. 2, 22: “in portum navim cogere (al. conicere),” Cic. Inv. 2, 32, 98: “in portum penetrare,” Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 37, § 96: “portum tenere,” to reach a port, id. Fam. 1, 9, 21: “in portum voluntatis deduci,” Vulg. Psa. 106, 30: “in portu operam dare,” to be an officer of the customs, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 70, § 171; 2, 2, 72, § 176.—With reference to the import-duty to be paid in ports: “ex portu vectigal conservare,” Cic. Imp. Pomp. 6, 15; Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 70, § 171. —Prov.: “in portu navigare,” i. e. to be in safety, out of all danger, Ter. And. 3, 1, 22; so, “in portu esse,” Cic. Fam. 9, 6, 4.—
2. Poet., transf., the mouth of a river, where it empties into the sea, Ov. H. 14, 107; id. Am. 2, 13, 10.—
B. Trop., as also the Greek λιμήν, and our haven, a place of refuge, an asylum, retreat (class.; a favorite trope of Cicero): portus corporis, Enn. ap. Cic. Tusc. 1, 44, 107 (Trag. v. 415 Vahl.): “tamquam portum aliquem exspecto illam solitudinem,” Cic. de Or. 1, 60, 255; “so with tamquam,” id. Brut. 2, 8: “se in philosophiae portum conferre,” id. Fam. 7, 30, 2: “regum, populorum, nationum portus erat et refugium senatus,” id. Off. 2, 8, 26: “exsilium non supplicium est, sed perfugium portusque supplicii,” id. Caecin. 34, 100; id. Tusc. 1, 49, 118: “hic portus, haec arx, haec ara sociorum,” Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 48, § 126; so, “nam mihi parta quies, omnisque in limine portus,” i. e. security is at hand, Verg. A. 7, 598: “venias portus et ara tuis,” Ov. H. 1, 110: “vos eritis nostrae portus et ara fugae,” id. P. 2, 8, 68. —
II. In the oldest Latinity, a house (as a place which one enters): “portum in XII. pro domo positum omnes fere consentiunt,” Fest. p. 233 Müll.—*
III. A warehouse: “portus appellatus est conclusus locus, quo importantur merces et inde exportantur,” Dig. 50, 16, 59: “Licini,” Cassiod. Var. 1, 25.