portmaster

English

Etymology

From port +‎ master.

Noun

portmaster (plural portmasters)

1. An official in charge of running a port.
   • 2013, Daniel Abraham, The Tyrant’s Law (The Dagger and the Coin; book three), Orbit, →ISBN, page 317:

     No one on the streets from dusk to dawn. Marcus had seen a fisherman at the piers shouting that the catch would be gone before he was on the water. The new Antean portmaster had him whipped in the street until there were bright tracks of raw meat along the chitined back.

   • 2014, C. J. Cherryh [pen name; Carolyn Janice Cherry], “Dancing on the Edge of the Dark”, in Greg Bear, Gardner Dozois, editors, Multiverse: Exploring Poul Anderson’s Worlds, Baen Books, published 2016, →ISBN, pages 159–160:

     A call came in from a red-faced man in uniform, the portmaster, who ranted about the tactic. “His Majesty requires you leave your ship!” figured in the list.

   • 2016, Peter F. Hamilton, A Night Without Stars: A Novel of the Commonwealth, New York, N.Y.: Del Rey, →ISBN, page 232:

     They’ll ask the portmasters if they’ve seen the rowing boat.

   • 2017, John Hornor Jacobs, Infernal Machines, London: Gollancz, →ISBN, page 80:

     Tenebrae nodded and then surveyed the shipyards. A dumpy portmaster and his servant peeked their heads out of the door, eyes wide.