Where does “Hertfordshire” come from?
Hertfordshire derives from Old English Herutford, a place name combining herutaz (hart, a male deer) from Proto-Germanic and ford (river crossing) from Old English, with herutaz ultimately descending from Proto-Indo-European ḱerh₂-.
Hertfordshire (English): An inland county of south-east England bordered by Cambridgeshire, Essex, Greater London, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire
Definitions
- An inland county of south-east England bordered by Cambridgeshire, Essex, Greater London, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire
Ancestry of “Hertfordshire”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Hertford | OS grid ref TL3212 |
| 2 | Middle English | hert | A hart; A depiction of a hart, including in... |
| 3 | Old English | heorot | deer, stag |
| 4 | Old English | ford | ford |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | furdu | ford |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | furduz | ford |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pértus | crossing |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |