border

The story

1. Old Frenchbordeure
2. Middle Englishbordure
3. English todayborder

Inherited from Middle English bordure, from Old French bordeure, of Germanic origin, from Frankish *bord, equivalent to modern French bord (“a border”) + -er. Akin to Middle High German borte (“border, trim”), German Borte (“ribbon, trimming”). Doublet of bordure. More at board. Not cognate to beard, although inside Germanic there may have been influence between the senses of these two roots: see e.g. Old Norse barð (“edge”).

Words from the same roots