ford

English Online Dictionary. What means ford‎? What does ford mean?

English

Alternative forms

• foorth (obsolete, [14th century])

Etymology

From Middle English ford, from Old English ford, from Proto-West Germanic *furdu, from Proto-Germanic *furduz, from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (“crossing”).

Cognate with firth, fjord, and fjard (via Old Norse), Low German Föörd, Dutch voord, German Furt, Norwegian and Danish fjord, and more distantly with English port (via Latin). See also forth and Persian پل (pol).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fɔːd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /fɔɹd/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /fo(ː)ɹd/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /foəd/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)d

Noun

ford (plural fords)

1. 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.
2. A stream; a current.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

ford (third-person singular simple present fords, present participle fording, simple past and past participle forded)

1. To cross a stream.
   • 2016, Bruce McClure and Deborah Byrd, "EarthSky's meteor shower guide for 2016" in earthsky.org, [2]

     Some who witnessed the 1966 Leonid meteor storm said they felt as if they needed to grip the ground, so strong was the impression of Earth plowing along through space, fording the meteoroid stream.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• dorf

Old Cornish

Etymology

from Old English ford, from Proto-West Germanic *furdu, from Proto-Germanic *furduz

Noun

ford

1. way

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *furdu, from Proto-Germanic *furduz (“ford”). Cognate with Old Frisian ford, Old Saxon ford, Old Dutch ford, Old High German furt.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ford/, [forˠd]

Noun

ford m

1. ford

Declension

Strong u-stem:

Strong a-stem:

Descendants

• Middle English: ford, furd, foord
  • English: ford
  • Scots: furde, furd, fuird
• ⇒ English: Chelmsford (from a contraction of Ċēolmǣres + ford)
• → Proto-Brythonic: *forð (“road”) (see there for further descendants)

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɔrd/

Noun

ford

1. Soft mutation of bord.

Mutation