Firth
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An arm or inlet of the sea; a river estuary.
"The descent continues, still more steeply to Dundee (Tay Bridge), and approaching from the bridge itself this sharp descent gives the curious appearance that the station is below the level of the firth."
- 2 Alternative form of frith (“a forest used for hunting; a (small) wood; wooded country; land covered mainly by brushwood”). Northern-England, Scotland, alt-of, alternative
- 3 a long narrow estuary (especially in Scotland) wordnet
- 1 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 2 A town in Bingham County, Idaho, United States. countable, uncountable
- 3 A village in Lancaster County, Nebraska, United States. countable, uncountable
- 4 A parish on the Bay of Firth, Mainland, Orkney Islands council area, Scotland (OS grid ref HY3514 (approx.) countable, uncountable
- 5 A small village in north-east Mainland, Shetland Islands council area, Scotland (OS grid ref HU4473). countable, uncountable
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- 6 A hamlet south-east of Lilliesleaf, Scottish Borders council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NT5423). countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"The stranger who sails for the first time up the Firth of Forth must be struck with the numerous villages that stud its picturesque shores."
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.
From Middle English fyrth, a metathetic variant of frith (“forest”), from Old English fyrhþe, fyrhþ (“forest, wooded country; game preserve, hunting ground”), from Proto-West Germanic *furhiþi (“forest, woodland”), Proto-Germanic *furhiþją (“forest, wooded country”), *furhiþǭ, from *furhu (“fir; pine”), from *furahō, *furhō (“fir; pine; (fir or pine) forest”), from Proto-Indo-European *pérkus (“oak”), from *perkʷ- (“oak”).
* As an English and Scottish surname, from Old English fyrhþe (“forest”). * As a Scottish surname, from Firth in Orkney, itself from Old Norse fjǫrðr (“firth”). * As a Welsh surname, from ffrith, itself borrowed from the first sense.
Related phrases
More for "firth"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.