Definition of "porteress" [por•ter•ess]

• Variant of portress. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "We have spoken of the admirable way in which Mr. Cruikshank has depicted Irish character and Cockney character; English country character is quite as faithfully delineated in the person of the stout porteress and her children, and of the"
• "She became the porteress of the abode which the other had prepared with such lavish attention and expenditure, to serve him only as a pall."
• "The porteress that let him in, and afterwards seeing him at the fire, first put the question to him; and then positively affirmed that he was with Christ."