Dictionary

firth en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /fɜːθ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /fɪɹθ/ (Scotland)
• /fɝθ/ (General-American)

Etymology

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.

Meanings

1. An arm or inlet of the sea; a river estuary.
   • 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. 1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 7:
   • 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. 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 440:

Forms

Deriveds

Moray Firth · Pentland Firth · Firth of Tay · Firth of Lorn · Solway Firth · Firth of Forth · Firth of Thames · Dornoch Firth · Beauly Firth · Cromarty Firth · Firth of Clyde

Hypernyms

loch · sea loch

Translations (13)

es ría (arm or inlet of the sea) · gd linne (arm or inlet of the sea) · gl esteiro (arm or inlet of the sea) · gd caol (arm or inlet of the sea) · cs ústí řeky (arm or inlet of the sea) · fi vuono (arm or inlet of the sea) · fi estuaari (arm or inlet of the sea) · fi lahti (arm or inlet of the sea) · non fjǫrðr (arm or inlet of the sea) · sco firth (arm or inlet of the sea) · bg тесен залив (arm or inlet of the sea) · ru лима́н (arm or inlet of the sea) · gl ría (arm or inlet of the sea)

firth en · NOUN · etymology 2

Etymology

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”).

Meanings

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

Forms

Relateds

thicket · grove · wald · woods · shaw · holt · hurst · wood · weald · tree · wold