firth

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See also: Firth and firð

English

WOTD – 30 November 2020

Etymology 1

The best known firth is probably the Firth of Forth in Scotland, UK, with its three large bridges.

Borrowed from Scots firth, furth, from Northern Middle English fyrth, from either or both of Old English ford and Old Norse fjǫrðr (“firth, fjord”), from Proto-Germanic *ferþu, *ferþuz (“inlet, fjord”), from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (“crossing”), from *per- (“to carry forth”) + *-tus (suffix forming action nouns from verb roots). The English word is a doublet of fjord, ford, port, and fjard.

Pronunciation

Noun

firth (plural firths)

  1. An arm or inlet of the sea; a river estuary.
    • 1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 7:
      The descent continues, still more steeply to Dundee (Tay Bridge), and approaching from the bridge itself this sharp descent gives the curious appearance that the station is below the level of the firth.
    • 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 440:
      They drove on, every rise in the road lifting their sightline clear of the drystone dykes along the roadside, gifting glimpses of the firth and the islands, the blue peaks of Arran.
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Etymology 2

From Middle English fyrth, a metathetic variant of frith (“forest”), from Old English fyrhþe, fyrhþ (“forest, wooded country; game preserve, hunting ground”), from Proto-West Germanic *furhiþi (“forest, woodland”), Proto-Germanic *furhiþją (“forest, wooded country”), *furhiþǭ, from *furhu (“fir; pine”), from *furahō, *furhō (“fir; pine; (fir or pine) forest”), from Proto-Indo-European *pérkus (“oak”), from *perkʷ- (“oak”).

Noun

firth (plural firths)

  1. (chiefly Northern England, Scotland) Alternative form of frith (“a forest used for hunting; a (small) wood; wooded country; land covered mainly by brushwood”).
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References

  1. ^ “firth, n.1”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from W Grant and D D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
  2. ^ “firth, n.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1896; “firth, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “firth, n.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1896.
  4. ^ “frith, n.(2)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  5. ^ Compare “frith, n.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1898.

Further reading

Anagrams

Middle English

Noun

firth

  1. alternative form of frith (“peace”)
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