Etymology

ford

F4O1R1D2

Today it means: A location where a stream is shallow and the bottom has good footing, making it possible to cross from one side to the other with no bridge, by walking, riding, or driving through the water; a crossing. Full definition →

Old English ford ← Proto-West Germanic *furdu ← Proto-Germanic *furduz
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*pértus
  3. Proto-Germanic*furduz
  4. Proto-West Germanic*furdu
  5. Old Englishford
  6. English todayford

From Middle English fōrd, from Old English ford, from Proto-West Germanic *furdu, from Proto-Germanic *furduz, from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (“crossing”). Doublet of firth, fjord, and fjard, all via Old Norse; and port, distantly via Latin. Cognate with Low German Föörd, Dutch voord, German Furt, Norwegian and Danish fjord. See also forth and Persian پل (pol, “bridge”).

Words from the same roots

Old Englishford all →

firthFordhamCringlefordSidfordStratford-on-AvonTempsford

Proto-Indo-European*pértus all →

portfirthfjordimportunity

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.