The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Porte \Porte\, n. [F. porte a gate, L. porta. See Port a
   gate.]
   The Ottoman court; the government of the Turkish empire,
   officially called the Sublime Porte, from the gate (port)
   of the sultan's palace at which justice was administered.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

Porte
    n 1: the Ottoman court in Constantinople [syn: Porte, Sublime
         Porte]

Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

PORTER. The name of an ancient English officer who bore or carried a rod
before the justices. The door-keeper of the English parliament also bears
this name.
     2. One who is employed as a common carrier to carry goods from one
place to another in the same town, is also called a porter. Such person is
in general answerable as a common carrier. Story, Bailm. Sec. 496.