Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Stratford” come from?

Stratford is a place name combining Old English stræt (Roman road) and ford (shallow river crossing), where ford derives from Old English ford, Proto-West Germanic furdu, Proto-Germanic furduz, and Proto-Indo-European pértus, ultimately from the root per- meaning to go across.

Ancestry of “Stratford”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishstrǣtroad; a road, a town-road, a street, a paved...
2Proto-West Germanicstrātustreet, paved road
3Latinstrāta—
4Latinstrātus—
5Latinsternō—
6Proto-Italicstornō—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanstr̥-n-h₃-—
8Proto-Indo-Europeansterh₃-to spread, extend, stretch out
9Proto-Indo-Europeanster-sterile, infertile

Words derived from “Stratford”

  • Stratfordian
  • Anti-Stratfordian
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ster- →