“Portage” comes from the French word “porter,” meaning “to carry.” It came into Middle English in the context of carrying anything; the sense of carrying a boat between navigable waters didn’t come into use until the late 17th century. That’s the most common use of “portage” now, and it can be used as both a noun and a verb. “Portage” as a noun is the act of carrying a boat between bodies of water, or the place where it is done. But it can also be used as a verb for this same activity: “We needed to portage to reach the lake.”