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Porta, Giacomo della ... portmanteau word

Porta, Giacomo della Italian architect whose work represents the development in style from late Mannerism to early Baroque. He was the chief Roman architect during the latter third of the 16th century and contributed to most of the major architectural projects undertaken in Rome during that period. Porta, Giambattista della Italian natural philosopher whose experimental research in optics and other fields was undermined by his credulous preoccupation with magic and the miraculous. Porta, Hugo Argentine rugby union football player who was the sport's top fly half during the 1970s and early '80s and arguably the best ever. He was indisputably Argentina's most celebrated player, lifting the standard of rugby there in dozens of Test (international) matches (he also played Tests for the South American ... Portage city, seat (1851) of Columbia county, south-central Wisconsin, U.S. It lies along the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, about 35 miles (55 km) north of Madison. The 1.5-mile (2.5-km) overland portage there between the Wisconsin and Fox rivers was first crossed by the French explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette in ... portal vein large vein through which oxygen-depleted blood from the stomach, the intestines, the spleen, the gallbladder, and the pancreas flows to the liver. The principal tributaries to the portal vein are the lienal vein, with blood from the stomach, the greater omentum (a curtain of membrane and fat that hangs down ... Portal, Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, 1st Viscount British air marshal and chief of the British Air Staff during World War II. Portales city, seat (1903) of Roosevelt county, eastern New Mexico, U.S., near the Texas state line. It was founded by Josh Morrison in 1898 and named for nearby Portales Springs, a watering place on the Fort Sumner Trail and so called because the waters flow from a series of cave openings ... Portales, Diego Chilean politician and for seven years virtual dictator who was instrumental in establishing political order and instituting economic progress in Chile. Disliked by some Chileans during his lifetime, he became a symbol of Chilean unity after his death. Portalis, Jean-Etienne-Marie French lawyer and politician, one of the chief draftsmen of the Napoleonic Code, or Civil Code, which is the basis of the French legal system. portative organ small musical instrument played from the 12th through the 16th century, popular for secular music. It had one rank of flue pipes (producing a flutelike sound), sometimes arranged in rows to save space, and was slung from the player's neck by a strap. The keys and pipes lay at right ... porte cochere in Western architecture, either of two elements found in large public and private buildings, popular in the Renaissance. A porte cochere, as the French name indicates, was originally an entrance or gateway to a building large enough to permit a coach to be driven through it into the interior courtyard ... Porteous Riots (1736), celebrated riots that erupted in Edinburgh over the execution of a smuggler. The incident had Jacobite overtones and was used by Sir Walter Scott in his novel The Heart of Midlothian. Porter, Cole American composer and lyricist who brought a worldly elan to the American musical and who embodied in his life the sophistication of his songs. Porter, David U.S. naval officer who commanded the frigate Essex on its two-year expedition against British shipping during the War of 1812. Porter, David Dixon U.S. naval officer who held important Union commands in the American Civil War (1861-65). Porter, Edwin S. pioneer American film director whose innovative use of dramatic editing (piecing together scenes shot at different times and places) in such films as The Life of An American Fireman (1903) and The Great Train Robbery (1903) revolutionized filmmaking. Porter, Eleanor Hodgman American novelist, creator of the Pollyanna series of books that generated a popular phenomenon. Porter, Eliot American photographer noted for his detailed and exquisite colour images of birds and landscapes. Porter, Eliza Emily Chappell American educator and welfare worker, remembered especially for the numerous schools she helped establish in almost every region of the United States. Porter, Fairfield American painter, printmaker, and writer best known for his naturalistic painting as well as his sophisticated writing on a variety of subjects. As a figurative painter at the height of Abstract Expressionism in the 1950s, Porter painted representational subjects heavily informed by contemporary directions in abstraction. Porter, Fitz-John Union general during the American Civil War who was court-martialed and cashiered-but later vindicated-for disobeying orders at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Porter, Gene Stratton American novelist, remembered for her fiction rooted in the belief that communion with nature held the key to moral goodness. Porter, Hal Australian novelist, playwright, poet, and autobiographer noted for his style and sometimes disturbing honesty. Porter, Katherine Anne American novelist and short-story writer, a master stylist whose long short stories have a richness of texture and complexity of character delineation usually achieved only in the novel. Porter, Keith Roberts Canadian-born American cell biologist who pioneered techniques for electron microscope studies of the internal structure and organization of cells and tissues. Porter, Peter Australian-born British poet whose works are characterized by a formal style and rueful, epigrammatic wit. Porter, Rodney Robert British biochemist who, with Gerald M. Edelman, received the 1972 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his contribution to the determination of the chemical structure of an antibody. Porter, Sarah American educator and founder of Miss Porter's School, still one of the leading preparatory schools for girls in the United States. Porter, Sir George, Baron Porter of Luddenham English chemist, corecipient with fellow Englishman Ronald George Wreyford Norrish and Manfred Eigen of West Germany of the 1967 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. All three were honoured for their studies in flash photolysis, a technique for observing the intermediate stages of very fast chemical reactions. Porter, Sylvia Field American economist and journalist whose financial advice-in newspaper columns, books, and magazines-garnered a wide audience in a field dominated by men. Portes Gil, Emilio Mexican political leader and diplomat who was provisional president of Mexico from Dec. 1, 1928, after the assassination of President-elect Alvaro Obregon, to Feb. 5, 1930. Porthcawl coastal resort, Bridgend county borough, historic county of Glamorgan (Morgannwg), Wales. Situated on a low limestone headland overlooking the Bristol Channel, Porthcawl originated as a coal port during the 19th century, but its trade was soon taken over by more rapidly developing ports such as nearby Barry. Northwest of the ... Porthos fictional character, one of the heroes of The Three Musketeers (published 1844, performed 1845) by Alexandre Dumas pere. Like the other two musketeers, Athos and Aramis, Porthos is a swashbuckling French soldier who becomes involved in court intrigue during the reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Portia the wealthy heiress of Belmont in Shakespeare's comedy The Merchant of Venice. In attempting to find a worthy husband, she sets in motion the action of the play. She is one of Shakespeare's classic cross-dressing heroines, and, dressed as a male lawyer (a redundant phrase in Shakespeare's time), she delivers ... Portici town, Campania regione, southern Italy. It lies on the Bay of Naples, southwest of Vesuvius (volcano) and just southeast of Naples. As a medieval fief Portici was owned by various princely families before passing to the Kingdom of Naples. It was completely destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 1631. ... portico colonnaded porch or entrance to a structure, or a covered walkway supported by regularly spaced columns. Porticoes formed the entrances to ancient Greek temples. Portis, Charles American novelist whose works were admired for their deadpan comic tone, colourfully sketched characters, and spirit of adventure. He was best known for the novel True Grit (1968), which inspired two popular film adaptations (1969, 2010). Portishead British trip-hop group who popularized the genre in North America by fusing dance music conventions such as drum loops and samples with atmospheric, cabaret-style vocals. Principal members included lead singer Beth Gibbons (b. Jan. 4, 1965, Keynsham, Bath and North East Somerset, Eng., ), producer Geoff Barrow (b. Dec. 9, ... Portland town and port, southern Victoria, Australia. It lies on Portland Bay, an inlet of the Indian Ocean. The bay was first visited by Europeans in 1800 and named for the duke of Portland by James Grant, a British naval officer; two years later Nicolas Baudin, a French navigator, called it ... Portland city, seat (1760) of Cumberland county, southwestern Maine, U.S. The state's largest city, it is the hub of a metropolitan statistical area that includes the cities of South Portland and Westbrook and the towns of Falmouth, Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland, Freeport, Gorham, Scarborough, Windham, and Yarmouth and, in York county, the ... Portland city, seat (1854) of Multnomah county, northwestern Oregon, U.S. The state's largest city, it lies just south of Vancouver, Washington, on the Willamette River near its confluence with the Columbia River, about 100 miles (160 km) by river from the Pacific Ocean. Portland is the focus of a large surrounding ... portland cement binding material in the form of a finely ground powder, usually gray, that is manufactured by burning and grinding a mixture of limestone and clay or limestone and shale. The inventor Joseph Aspdin, of England, patented the basic process in 1824, naming it for the resemblance of the cement when ... Portland Inlet arm of the Pacific Ocean, indenting western British Columbia, Canada; it is an extension of Dixon Entrance and Chatham Sound, north of Prince Rupert. Named in 1793 by the English navigator George Vancouver in honour of the ducal house of Portland, the inlet is 25 miles (40 km) long and ... Portland State University public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Portland, Oregon, U.S. It is part of the Oregon University System. The university includes colleges of liberal arts and sciences, urban and public affairs, and engineering and computer science; schools of business administration and fine and performing arts; and graduate schools of social ... Portland Trail Blazers American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon, that plays in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Trail Blazers have won one NBA championship (1977) and three conference titles (1977, 1990, 1992). Portland Vase Roman vase (1st century AD) of dark blue glass decorated with white figures, the finest surviving Roman example of cameo glass. Originally owned by the Barberini family (and sometimes called the Barberini Vase), it came into the possession of the duchess of Portland in the 18th century. The vase has ... Portland, Isle of craggy peninsula of the English Channel coast, in the county of Dorset, England. Its greatest length is 4 miles (6 km) and it has a width of 1.75 miles. The peninsula is connected to the mainland by Chesil Beach, an unbroken shingle ridge about 30 feet (9 metres) high and ... Portland, William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, 3rd Duke of, Marquess Of Titchfield, Earl Of Portland, Viscount Woodstock, Baron Of Cirencester British prime minister from April 2 to Dec. 19, 1783, and from March 31, 1807, to Oct. 4, 1809; on both occasions he was merely the nominal head of a government controlled by stronger political leaders. Portlaoise county town (seat) of County Laoighis, Ireland, on the River Triogue. Established as Fort Protector during the reign of Mary I (1533-58), it was granted a charter in 1570. The main industries of the town are flour milling and the manufacture of worsteds and sports equipment. The Rock of Dunmase, ... Portman, Natalie Israeli American actress known for the aristocratic poise and nuance with which she evinced the struggles of precocious young women. portmanteau word a word composed of parts of two or more words, such as chortle from chuckle and snort and motel from motor and hotel. The term was first used by Lewis Carroll to describe many of the unusual words in his Through the Looking-Glass (1871), particularly in the poem "Jabberwocky." Other ...