Where does “dooryard” come from?

Dooryard comes from English door, from Old English ġerd and ġeard, from Proto-Germanic durz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to enclose or protect.

dooryard (English): the yard near the front or back door of a house

Definitions

  1. the yard near the front or back door of a house

Ancestry of “dooryard”, step by step

dooryard traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Yard

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishYardScotland Yard or New Scotland Yard
2Englishmilliard10, a thousand million
3FrenchmilliardA milliard
4Frenchmillionmillion, 10
5Middle Frenchmillionmillion, 10
6Old Frenchmillon—
7Italianmilionemillion
8Italianmillethousand
9LatinMīllethousand; 1000
10Proto-Italicsmīɣeslīthousand
11Proto-Indo-Europeansmih₂ǵʰéslih₂—

via English door

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishdoorA portal of entry into a building, room, or...
2Middle EnglishdoreA door or gate structure barring an entrance
3Old Englishdorabumblebee
4Proto-Germanicdurôbumblebee, humming insect
5Proto-Indo-Europeandʰer-to support; to hold
Every word from Proto-Indo-European smih₂ǵʰéslih₂ →