abord
See also: à bord
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From French abord, from aborder (“to aboard”).
Noun edit
abord (plural abords)
- (obsolete) The act of approaching or arriving; approach. [17th–19th c.]
- 1777, Frances Burney, Journals & Letters, Penguin, published 2001, page 77:
- He entered with an air so immensely conceited and affected, and, at the same Time, so uncommonly bold, that I could scarce stand his Abord […].
- (rare) A road, or means of approach. [from 17th c.]
Etymology 2 edit
Alternative forms.
Verb edit
abord (third-person singular simple present abords, present participle abording, simple past and past participle aborded)
- Alternative form of aboard
- 1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, hardback edition, Duckworth, page 82:
- Mrs Hurstpierpoint aborded her with a smile.
Anagrams edit
French edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Middle French [Term?], from aborder, from Old French aborder (“to hit a ship in order to board it”), from bord (“side of a ship, edge”), from Frankish *bord (“side of a ship or vessel”), from Proto-Germanic *burdą (“edge, border, side”), from Proto-Indo-European *bheredh- (“to cut”). Cognate with Old High German bort (“edge, rim, rand”), Old English bord (“ship, side of a ship”), Old Norse borð (“edge, side of a vessel”). More at board.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
abord m (plural abords)
- (literary) the manner with which one acts in the presence of another person or persons, especially in a first encounter
- 2008, Amphibiens et reptiles, →ISBN, page 80:
- Au premier abord, la caouanne est une tortue à très grosse tête.
- At first glance, the loggerhead is a turtle with a very large head.
- (rare) the surroundings of a place
- (archaic) arrival or accessibility by water
Usage notes edit
- In the sense "surroundings", the word is almost always a pluralia tantum.
- The sense "manner of acting" is usually now perceived as a backformation from aborder (“to approach”), and is most common in the expression être d'un abord and variations of it.
Derived terms edit
Derived terms
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “abord”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams edit
Middle English edit
Etymology edit
From a- + bord (“exterior of a ship”).
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
abord
Preposition edit
abord
- On board of; onto or into a ship, boat, train, plane.
Descendants edit
References edit
- “abōrd, adv. & prep.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.