firth

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun English linguist who contributed to linguistic semantics and to prosodic phonology and who was noted for his insistence on studying both sound and meaning in context (1890-1960)
  2. noun a long narrow estuary (especially in Scotland)

Etymology

Borrowed from Scots firth, furth, from Northern Middle English fyrth, from either or both of Old English ford and Old Norse fjǫrðr (“firth, fjord”), from Proto-Germanic *ferþu, *ferþuz (“inlet, fjord”), from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (“crossing”), from *per- (“to carry forth”) + *-tus (suffix forming action nouns from verb roots). The English word is a doublet of fjord, ford, port, and fjard.

In classic literature

Synonyms

J. R. Firth, John Rupert Firth

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