harbor
heh-reh-beyorg
harbor
A lexicon entry does not have to be ancient to be interesting. Sometimes the movement is semantic rather than chronological: a word begins wide, then becomes precise.
Share
The journey
Root
herebeorg heh-reh-beyorg
"shelter, lodging"
early Germanic layer
A harbor begins as a shelter before it becomes a maritime place.
Medieval
herberwe HER-ber-we
Middle English shelter and lodging
Maritime
harbour HAR-bour
from coastal trade vocabulary · late medieval maritime use
The meaning narrows from refuge in general to refuge for ships.
specialized
Modern Usage
Colloquial
harbor
Literary
harbour
The American and British spellings form a useful visible fork for demonstrating variants.
Sources
Sources pending.