n. [ OF. portal, F. portail, LL. portale, fr. L. porta a gate. See Port a gate. ] 1. A door or gate; hence, a way of entrance or exit, especially one that is grand and imposing. [ 1913 Webster ] Thick with sparkling orient gems
The portal shone. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ] From out the fiery portal of the east. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. (Arch.) (a) The lesser gate, where there are two of different dimensions. (b) Formerly, a small square corner in a room separated from the rest of the apartment by wainscoting, forming a short passage to another apartment. (c) By analogy with the French portail, used by recent writers for the whole architectural composition which surrounds and includes the doorways and porches of a church. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. (Bridge Building) The space, at one end, between opposite trusses when these are terminated by inclined braces. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. A prayer book or breviary; a portass. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
Portal bracing (Bridge Building), a combination of struts and ties which lie in the plane of the inclined braces at a portal, serving to transfer wind pressure from the upper parts of the trusses to an abutment or pier of the bridge. [ 1913 Webster ]
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