\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}.]