fjord

Definition

A long, narrow, deep inlet between cliffs.

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Norwegian fjord, from Old Norse fjǫrðr, 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). Doublet of firth, ford, port, and fjard.

Example Sentences

• "About 20 English miles beyond this river, which is the largest in Norway, the road crosses the fjord which forms the boundary of the two kingdoms [Norway and Sweden]; and whose waters but too often in former days were dyed with the life-blood of many a bold mountaineer who crossed the "border stream" never to return."
• "At last one gave a deep groan, and another declared that the spirits of the fiord were against them, and there was no doubt that their boat was now lying twenty fathoms deep, at the bottom of the creek; drawn down by the strong hand of an angry water-spirit. [...] Another said he would not go till he had looked abroad over the fiord, for some chance of seeing the boat."
• "Like most of the larger inlets, and some of the inland lakes, the Sogne fjord is much deeper than the sea beyond, the depth in places being upwards of 4,000 feet, [...] Before the "glacial epoch," thousands of streams commenced the work of erosion and produced valleys and gorges. During the glacial epoch these channels were enlarged, and lake basins were hollowed out. The descending glaciers ground out fjords to their full length when the glacial epoch was at its height, but as it declined they ground out the inner parts to a still greater depth, producing the present character of the marine fjords, and giving rise to lake hollows in other places."