Etymology

Detroit

De·troit
D2E1T1R1O1I1T1

Today it means: The largest city and former capital of Michigan, United States, a major port on the Detroit River, known as the traditional automotive center of the U.S. It is the county seat of Wayne County. Full definition →

French détroit ← Latin districtus ← Proto-Italic *strigtos
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  2. Proto-Indo-European*trísinflu.
  3. Proto-Indo-European*d(w)is-
  4. Proto-Italic*dis-
  5. Latindis-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*streyg-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*strigtós
  8. Proto-Italic*strigtos
  9. Latinstrictus
  10. Latindistrictus
  11. Frenchdétroit
  12. English todayDetroit

From French détroit (“strait”) in Rivière du Détroit (Detroit River). Doublet of district, via Latin.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.