Word.ws English Dictionary

portolan

UK/ˈpɔːtələn/

portolan noun: a chart of European navigable waters based on descriptions of coasts.

Noun

portolan (plural portolans)

  1. (historical) A chart of European navigable waters based on descriptions of coasts.
    • Portolans are as old as the European mariner's magnetic compass, and for about two centuries the two depended on each other for the growth and safe passage of Mediterranean trade.2012, Simon Garfield, On the Map, Profile Books, page 110

Forms of portolan

pluralportolans
alternative formportolano
alternative formportulan

Origin of portolan

From French portulan, from Italian portolano.

Questions about portolan

What does portolan mean?
Portolan means a chart of European navigable waters based on descriptions of coasts.
What part of speech is portolan?
Portolan is a noun.
How do you pronounce portolan?
Portolan is pronounced /ˈpɔːtələn/ (UK).
What is the plural of portolan?
The plural of portolan is portolans.

Words near portolan in the dictionary

  1. portohepatic
  2. portoise
  3. portoises
  4. Portola
  5. Portola Valley
  6. portolan
  7. portolani
  8. portolano
  9. portolanos
  10. portolans
  11. portomesenteric

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: portolan (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “portolan.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/portolan. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.