- ford
- \ \ [OE] Ford is an ancient word, whose origins can be traced back as far as prehistoric Indo- European *prtús, a derivative of *por- ‘going, passage’, which also produced English fare and ferry. Descendants of *prtús include Latin portus ‘harbour’ (source of English port), Welsh rhyd ‘ford’, West Germanic *furduz (whence German furt ‘ford’ and English ford) and North Germanic *ferthuz (source of English fiord or fjord [17] and firth [15]).\ \ Cf.⇒ FARE, FERRY, FIORD, FIRTH, FJORD, FORD, PORT
Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.