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ford¹

  • /fɔːd/ UK
  • /fɔɹd/ US
  • /fo(ː)ɹd/
  • /foəd/
  • /-fəd/ UK
  • /-fɚd/ US

Rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)d

Where it comes from

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

Doublet of firth, fjord, and fjard, all via Old Norse; and port, distantly via Latin. Cognate with Low German Föörd, Dutch voord, German Furt, Norwegian and Danish fjord. See also forth and Persian پل (pol, “bridge”).

noun fords · foorth

  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. He swam the Esk river where ford there was none.

    Similar: water-splash

  2. A stream; a current. With water of the ford / Or of the clouds.

verb fords · fording · forded · foorth

  1. To cross a stream by walking through it. He named that place, for it was near her dwelling, and on the road between Balerynie and Heriotside, which fords the Sker Burn.
  2. broadly To traverse any precarious environment. I spent several days fording through dense jungle.

Ford²

  • /fɔːd/ UK
  • /fɔɹd/ US

Sounds like ford · Rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)d

proper noun Fords · fforde

  1. countable, uncountable A topographic surname from Middle English for someone who lived near a ford. We spoke to Ford and other hairstylists over 40 about what to expect from these changes and how to treat them. Read on for the experts’ tips for helping your hair age gracefully.
  2. countable, uncountable A male given name transferred from the surname.
  3. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Dinton with Ford and Upton parish, Buckinghamshire (OS grid ref SP7709).
  4. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Eckington parish, North East Derbyshire district, Derbyshire (OS grid ref SK4080).
  5. countable, uncountable A suburb of Plymouth, Devon (OS grid ref SX4656).
  6. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Holbeton parish, South Hams district, Devon (OS grid ref SX6150).
  7. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Temple Guiting parish, Cotswold district, Gloucestershire (OS grid ref SP0829).
  8. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Ford and Stoke Prior parish, south of Leominster, Herefordshire (OS grid ref SO5155)
  9. countable, uncountable A suburban area in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside (OS grid ref SJ3398).
  10. countable, uncountable A small village and civil parish in northern Northumberland (OS grid ref NT9437).
  11. countable, uncountable A village and civil parish west of Shrewsbury, Shropshire (OS grid ref SJ4113).
  12. countable, uncountable A village and civil parish in Arun district, West Sussex (OS grid ref TQ0003).
  13. countable, uncountable A small village in North Wraxall parish, Wiltshire (OS grid ref ST8375).
  14. countable, uncountable A village in Laverstock parish, near Salisbury, Wiltshire (OS grid ref SU1533).
  15. countable, uncountable A small village at the south-west end of Loch Awe, Argyll and Bute council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NN8603).
  16. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Wolfscastle community, Pembrokeshire, Wales (OS grid ref SM9526).
  17. countable, uncountable A ghost town in Bartow County, Georgia.
  18. countable, uncountable A minor city and township in Ford County, Kansas.
  19. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Clark County, Kentucky.
  20. countable, uncountable A township in Kanabec County, Minnesota.
  21. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Dinwiddie County, Virginia.
  22. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Stevens County, Washington.
  23. countable, uncountable A town in Taylor County, Wisconsin.
  24. countable, uncountable A carmaker, the Ford Motor Company; its brand.

noun Fords · fforde

  1. A car, truck, tractor, or other vehicle of this make. Their grandparents always drove Fords.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: crossing, gerald ford, henry ford, ship, fort, asili, fuk, kenya, libby, onslow, owens, forde, libbey, fode, philco, cross-over

Translations

Every language

noun crossing

Españolvado
日本語浅瀬 asase, 洗い越し araigoshi
中文淺灘 /浅滩 qiǎntān, 津 jīn
हिन्दीपाँझ pāñjh, पायाब pāyāb, घाट ghāṭ
Portuguêsvau
Françaisgué
DeutschFurt
Italianoguado
Românăvad
Русскийброд brod, перепра́ва perepráva
Tiếng Việtchỗ cạn
العربيةمَخَاضَة maḵāḍa
עבריתמעבר ma'avár

noun stream; current

DeutschFjord

verb to cross a stream

Españolvadear
日本語渉る, 渡る
中文涉過 /涉过 shèguò, 渡 dù, 蹚 tāng
Portuguêsvadear
Françaispasser à gué
Deutschdurchqueren
Italianoguadare
Русскийпереходи́ть вброд perexodítʹ vbrod, перейти́ вброд perejtí vbrod
עבריתעָבַר avár

name surname

中文福特 Fútè

noun a make of a car

한국어포드 Podeu
日本語フォード Fōdo
中文福特 Fútè
हिन्दीफ़ोर्ड forḍ
PortuguêsFord
DeutschFord
РусскийФорд
العربيةفُورْد fūrd
עבריתפורד

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Cite this
MLA

"ford." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ford. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

ford. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ford

Chicago

"ford." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ford.

BibTeX
@misc{ford_2026,
  title = {ford},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ford},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}