Porch (?), n. [F. porche, L. porticus, fr. porta a gate, entrance, or passage. See Port a gate, and cf. Portico.] 1. Arch. A covered and inclosed entrance to a building, whether taken from the interior, and forming a sort of vestibule within the main wall, or projecting without and with a separate roof. Sometimes the porch is large enough to serve as a covered walk. See also Carriage porch, under Carriage, and Loggia.
The graceless Helen in the porch I spied
Of Vesta's temple.
Dryden.
2. A portico; a covered walk. [Obs.]
Repair to Pompey's porch, where you shall find find us.
Shak.
The Porch, a public portico, or great hall, in Athens, where Zeno, the philosopher, taught his disciples; hence, sometimes used as equivalent to the school of the Stoics. It was called 'η ποικιλη στοα. [See Poicile.]
© Webster 1913. | 
