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FIELD. 



In English, an open level country, or piece of ground for tillage 

 or pasture. In Anglo-Saxon and German it is " Feld ;" in Dutch, 

 " Veld ;" in Danish, " Falle ;" in Scotch, " Fale," " Feal." 



FORD. 



In English, a place where water may be crossed on foot. The 

 Anglo-Saxon " faran" means " to go ;" the German " fahren," "to 

 go in some conveyance." The root is the same as that of the 

 Greek ^^-fr and irsfau, and of the English words " fare," &c., in 

 " thoroughfare." It is curious that from this root the Germans 

 get their word for "danger;" "fahren" being "to travel;" 

 " gefahr" is " danger." 



The Welsh is " Ffordd," and has the same meaning. In Gaelic 

 " Faodhail" (where the " d" is not pronounced) means a " river 

 through which one may wade." 



HAJvr. 



Peile, in his " Greek and Latin Etymology," derives " ham" 

 from an Indo-European root KI, denoting " quietness." In 

 Sanscrit this root appears as GI. In Greek it is kei, and crops 

 up in the words >ci7fjiai, I lie down, and xolm, a bed. In Latin the 

 root appears as QUI — , in quies, and also as CI — , in civis, 

 civitas. 



Initial K, or hard, in Indo-European, Greek, &c., becomes H 

 in Gothic and German. Hence this root turns up in Gothic as 

 "Haims;" in German as " Heim ;" and in English as "Home" 

 and " Ham ;" .whence " Hamlet," a small cluster of cottages. 



There is another word " Ham" in English, which has nothing 

 to do with the one just discussed, but is derived from a different 

 root, and has a different meaning. " Ham," part of the leg, is to 

 be traced up to the same original as the Greek verb >ciy.-nru, which 

 means " I bend." In German it is " Hamma," the " bent knee- 

 joint." 



There is also a word " Hamm" in German denoting a bog or 

 marsh. And it is possible that some of the places round us may 



