A gate or gateway is a point of entry to a space enclosed by walls, or a moderately sized opening in some sort of fence. Gates may prevent or control the entry or exit of individuals, or they may be merely decorative. Other terms for gate include yett and port. The word derives from the old Norse "gata", meaning road or path, and originally referred to the gap in the wall or fence, rather than the barrier which closed it.
A gate may have a latch to keep it from swinging and a lock for security. Larger gates can be used for a whole building, such as a castle or fortified town, or the actual doors that block entry through the gatehouse. Today, many gate doors are opened by an automated gate operator.
Famous quotes containing the word gate:
“Pale Death beats equally at the poor man’s gate and at the palaces of kings.”
—Horace [Quintus Horatius Flaccus] (65–8 B.C.)
“What was dancing to you then?
We went from the high gate away
To a black hill the other side of men
Where one wild stag stared
At the going day.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“Leave now
The shut gate and the decomposing wall:
The gentle serpent, green in the mulberry bush,
Riots with his tongue through the hush
Sentinel of the grave who counts us all!”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)