English

air port

Air port comes from English port ‘porthole’.

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

Earliest quotation: 1898, Annual Reports of the Navy Department fo: “About 12 feet from the stern, and 4 feet…”

A compound of air + port ‘porthole’

Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ήρ ‘mist, air’

Latin āēr

Old French air

Middle English aire

English air

Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘to fare, cross’

Proto-Indo-European *pértus ‘crossing’

Proto-Italic *portus ‘harbour’

Latin portus ‘harbour, port’

Old English port ‘a port, haven’

English port

Every English word from English port

noun An opening in the side of a ship to let in air and light.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.