Etymologically
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ford

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 00:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /fɔːd/, US /fɔːrd/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English ford,[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *furdu-,[2] from Proto-Indo-European *prtu- (“a going, a passage”),[2] from the root *per- “to lead, pass over”.[2] Old Frisian forda, Old High German furt (German Furt) and Old Norse fjǫrðr are related,[3][4] and outside Germanic Welsh rhyd and Latin portus “harbour”.[3][4][5] English fare, ferry, fjord and port share the root.[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A shallow place where a river or other water can be crossed by wading or riding: about 893 in the OED, in Alfred's translation of Orosius.[7][3] It is common in place-names such as Oxford and Hartford.[3]

Semantic evolution

In poetry it could mean a stream or current (1563), now obsolete,[7] and in Westmorland dialect an arm of the sea.[8] The verb, to cross water at a ford, is from 1614 in the OED and MWU,[7][5] the 1610s in Etymonline.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 893 – a shallow crossing place.[7]
  • 1563 – poetic, a stream.[7]
  • 1614 – verb, to wade across.[7][5]
  • 1914 – Ford, the car.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A shallow place in a river or stream where people, animals or vehicles can cross.

Verb

  1. To cross a river or stream at a shallow place.

Word family

  • fordable

Usage notes

The Ford car (1914 in the OED) is named after the American manufacturer Henry Ford.[7][2]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)