Etymology

hurdle

hurd·le
H4U1R1D2L1E1

Today it means: An artificial barrier, variously constructed, over which athletes or horses jump in a race. Full definition →

Middle English hurdel ← Old English hyrdel ← Proto-Germanic *hurdiz
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kreh₂-
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*hurdiz
  3. Old English · inherited fromhyrdel“frame of intertwined twigs used as a temporary barrier”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromhurdel
  5. English todayhurdle

] From Middle English hurdel, hirdel, herdel, hyrdel, from Old English hyrdel (“frame of intertwined twigs used as a temporary barrier”), diminutive of *hyrd, from Proto-Germanic *hurdiz, from Pre-Germanic *kr̥h₂tis, from Proto-Indo-European *kreh₂-. Cognate with Dutch horde, German Hürde.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.