Porch (?), n. [F. porche, L.
porticus, fr. porta a gate, entrance, or passage. See
Port a gate, and cf. Portico.] 1.
(Arch.) A covered and inclosed entrance to a building,
whether taken from the interior, and forming a sort of vestibule
within the main wall, or projecting without and with a separate roof.
Sometimes the porch is large enough to serve as a covered walk. See
also Carriage porch, under Carriage, and
Loggia.
The graceless Helen in the porch I spied
Of Vesta's temple.
Dryden.
2. A portico; a covered walk. [Obs.]
Repair to Pompey's porch, where you shall find
find us.
Shak.
The Porch, a public portico, or great hall,
in Athens, where Zeno, the philosopher, taught his disciples; hence,
sometimes used as equivalent to the school of the Stoics. It
was called "h poiki`lh stoa`. [See
Poicile.]