From Old French porte coleice 'sliding gate,' a heavy grating that drops to seal a castle entrance.
A heavy grating of iron or wood that can be lowered to block the entrance of a castle or fortified town.
From Old French porte coleice 'sliding gate,' from porte 'gate' (from Latin porta) + coleice 'sliding, flowing,' feminine of coleis, from Latin cōlāre 'to filter, strain.' The portcullis slides down in vertical grooves cut into the stone gateway—a 'flowing gate' that drops like a curtain. Key roots: *per- (Proto-Indo-European: "to