Know Your Roots: 'port'

Many words in English are based on the same root words, and knowing what these mean can help us with spellings.

The root word 'port' comes from two similar Latin words meaning 'to carry' and 'gateway'.

A porter is a person who carries people's luggage at a railway station or hotel.

A port is a place where ships leave one country for another, so it is a kind of gateway. 

The word is also linked to carrying things, as ports take people and products from one place to another

Some of you might know of the computer game 'Portal' in which the hero has to go from one part of a spaceship to another through gateways or portals. Now you know why it's called that!

Let's try some questions now.