Porte

The story

1. Ottoman Turkish · derived fromباب عالی“Exalted Gate”
2. Middle French · derived fromporte“gate”
3. English todayPorte

From Middle French porte (“gate”), ultimately after Ottoman Turkish باب عالی (Bâb-ı Âli, “Exalted Gate”), from Arabic بَاب (bāb, “gate”) and عَالِيّ (ʕāliyy, “high, exalted”), a synecdoche for the Ottoman government originally referring to the outer gate of the sultan's Topkapı palace at which justice was administered, and later to the gate of the palace of the grand vizier.

First known use, by meaning

• from 15th c. The Ottoman court; (hence), the government of the Ottoman empire.