portage

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the activity of carrying a boat and its supplies overland between navigable waterways or around an obstacle

   The paddlers made a two-kilometer portage around the rapids.

2. 2
   noun

   a route or place over which a boat and its supplies must be carried

   A narrow portage connected the river to the next lake.

3. 3
   verb

   to carry a boat and its supplies overland between waterways or around an obstacle

   We had to portage the canoe over the rocky ridge.

From Middle English portage, borrowed from Old French portage, from porter ("to carry"), ultimately from Latin portare. The suffix -age forms an action or result noun. The specialized North American sense developed through Canadian French travel by canoe.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images