Door

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /do(ː)ɹ/

Definitions

1. A barrier that can pivot or slide to either seal an entryway or enable passage between spaces
2. An entry point that consists of a movable panel, which can either obstruct or allow access
3. A hinged or sliding panel that closes an opening in a wall to provide security or privacy and permits entrance or exit

Etymology: The English "door" descends from a root that also gave us words for "outside." Its ancestor, Proto-Indo-European ""dʰwer-", meant "doorway, door, gate," and the same root produced Latin "foris" and "foras," meaning "outside," which in turn gave Spanish "fuera," French "hors," and Italian "fuori." The link is easy to see once you picture an ancient doorway as the boundary between inside and outside. The Germanic branch took a different path. Proto-Germanic ""durz" became Old English "duru," which could mean either "door" or "gate," a flexibility that survives in German "Tor" ("gate") alongside "Tür" ("door"). Middle English later shaped it into "dore," and the modern spelling settled from there. Not every resemblance is a relative. Dutch "door," which means "through," looks like English "door" but comes from a different root. Its true English cousin is "through."

Synonyms: entry, portal, gate, entrance, threshold

Antonyms: window, opening, exit, barrier, wall