fiord

[fyawrd, fyohrd; Norwegian fyohr, fyoo r]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fiord ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

fjord.

fjord

or fiord

[fyawrd, fyohrd; Norwegian fyohr, fyoo r]

noun

a long, narrow arm of the sea bordered by steep cliffs: usually formed by glacial erosion.

(in Scandinavia) a bay.

Origin of fjord

From Norwegian; see origin at firth

Related formsfjord·ic, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for fiord

sound, inlet, gulf, harbor, anchorage, estuary, strait, cove, bayou, bight, mouth, lagoon, basin, arm, narrows, firth, loch

Examples from the Web for fiord

Historical Examples of fiord

The boys were to cross the fiord with them and return in the boat.
Love and Lucy
Maurice Henry Hewlett
Those heights had as many hiding places as the fiord country.
Storm Over Warlock
Andre Norton
They must locate some break nearer than the fiord, down which they had come.
Storm Over Warlock
Andre Norton
In front of it the sea came up into the land and made a fiord.
Viking Tales
Jennie Hall
Thorstein taught him to swim in the rough waters of the fiord.
Viking Tales
Jennie Hall

British Dictionary definitions for fiord

fiord

noun

a variant spelling of fjord

fjord

fiord

noun

(esp on the coast of Norway) a long narrow inlet of the sea between high steep cliffs formed by glacial action

Word Origin for fjord

C17: from Norwegian, from Old Norse fjörthr; see firth, ford

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fiord

alternative form of fjord (q.v.).

fjord

1670s, from Norwegian fiord, from Old Norse fjörðr, from North Germanic *ferthuz, from PIE *prtus, from *per- "going, passage" (see port (n.1)).

fiord in Science

fjord

[fyôrd]

A long, narrow, deep inlet from the sea between steep slopes of a mountainous coast. Fjords usually occur where ocean water flows into valleys formed near the coast by glaciers.