Pores

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /pɔɹz/

Definitions

1. Minute openings or holes on any surface that allow gases, liquids, or particles to pass through ; tiny holes in the skin or plant surfaces that permit the exchange of air or moisture
2. Small apertures in materials enabling the movement of substances across them ; natural tiny openings in living organisms such as skin or leaves for breathing or sweating
3. Tiny gaps or orifices found on surfaces which facilitate permeation of substances ; microscopic openings in skin or plants that let air and moisture pass

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "pores" is that it has two unrelated ancestries. The tiny openings in skin come from a Greek word meaning "passage": ancient Greek "póros" meant a way through or a channel, and Latin borrowed it as "porus." That Latin form reached English through Old French as "pore" in Middle English, and it displaced the native English term for these openings, "swēt hole" or "sweat hole," which was built from the Old English "swātþȳrel," literally "sweat hole," a name that competed with "līcþēote," "body pipe." The other "pore" is an entirely different word. It descends from an Old English verb, possibly "*pūrian," meaning to look closely or examine, which is related to the Old English "spyrian," to investigate. Its close relatives are the Dutch "porren," meaning to poke or prod, and the Swedish dialect "pora," meaning to work slowly and deliberately. The sense of intent study survives in the phrase "to pore over a book," which is the verb that gives the plural of the skin openings its visual sibling in English.

Synonyms: openings, vent, punctures