Where does “Hartford” come from?
Hartford derives from Middle English and Old English ford, meaning a shallow river crossing, from Proto-West Germanic furdu and Proto-Germanic furduz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European pértus and per-, meaning to go across.
Ancestry of “Hartford”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | heorot | deer, stag |
| 2 | Old English | ford | ford |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | furdu | ford |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | furduz | ford |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | pértus | crossing |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |
Words derived from “Hartford”