portcullis

What it means

1. A gate in the form of a grating which is lowered into place at the gateway of a castle, a fort, etc.

   Synonyms: cataract

2. historicalAn old English coin from the reign of Elizabeth I, minted for the use of the East India Company, and bearing the picture of a portcullis on the reverse.

In a sentence

[…]Within my mouth you haue engaold my tongue, / Doubly portculliſt with my teeth and lippes[…]

1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]

Where it comes from

1. Latincolāre
2. Old Frenchporte colëice
3. Middle Englishportcolyse
4. Englishportcullis

From Middle English portcolyse, from Old French porte colëice, from porte (“door”) + feminine of colëiz (“sliding”), ultimately from Latin colāre.