Portian.
/ˈpɔːʃə/, U.S. /ˈpɔrʃə/ allusively. A female advocate or barrister.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal profession > lawyer > [noun] > counsellor, barrister, or advocate > woman > type of
Portia1869
1869 C. Reade Peg Woffington 284/2 ‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ said the modern Portia, ‘the first head of my lecture is before you.’
1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. xiv. 215 Mrs. Donnelly is perhaps one of the most able lawyers in relation to native affairs that New Zealand possesses, and..has earned..the reputation of a Maori Portia.
1901 Westm. Gaz. 22 Jan. 12/2 The Paris Portia's First Success... Mdlle. Chauvan, the young lady barrister, made her first appearance yesterday in the Paris courts.
1977 J. Mitchell Half-life ii. 39 Good Christ, they've brought back the people's Portia.
1990 Observer (Nexis) 16 Dec. 37 She [sc. a barrister] looked the part cool, tall, elegant, every inch the modern Portia in a Kenzo jacket.
Derivatives
ˈPortian adj. characteristic or suggestive of Portia in The Merchant of Venice.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal profession > lawyer > [adjective] > of or relating to barrister > woman
Portian1909
1909 Westm. Gaz. 17 Aug. 2/1 China..then took refuge in an interpretation of the letter of the Treaty which was quite Portian in its meticulousness.
2001 News & Observer (Raleigh, N. Carolina) (Nexis) 8 Nov. a21 In Afghanistan, we are wrestling with a Portian paradox: How to seize the pound of flesh—al-Qaeda—without spilling civilian Afghan blood.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1869