Editing Frankfurt (section)

==Etymology==
{{lang|goh|Frankonovurd}} (in [[Old High German]]) or {{lang|la|Vadum Francorum}} (in [[Latin]]) were the first names mentioned in written records from 794. It transformed to ''Frankenfort'' during the [[Middle Ages]] and then to ''Franckfort'' and ''Franckfurth'' in the [[modern history|modern era]]. According to historian [[David Gans]], the city was named {{circa|146 AD}} by its builder, a Frankish king named Zuna, who ruled over the province then known as [[Sicambri]]. He hoped thereby to perpetuate the name of his lineage.<ref>Dovid Solomon Ganz, ''Tzemach David'' (part 2), Warsaw 1859, p. 13b (Hebrew); Polish name of book: ''Cemahc Dawid''; cf. J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, ''Fredegar and the History of France'', University of Manchester, n.d. pp. 536–538.</ref> This is chronologically incompatible, however, with the archaeologically demonstrated Roman occupation of the area around [[Nida (Roman town)|Nida]] fortress in modern [[Heddernheim]]. The name is derived from the ''Franconofurd'' of the [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribe]] of the [[Franks]]; ''Furt'' ([[cf.]] English ''[[ford (river)|ford]]'') where the river was shallow enough to be crossed on foot.
[[File:Die Frankenfurt.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The legend of the ''Frankenfurt'' (ford of the Franks)]]
By the 19th century, the name ''Frankfurt'' had been established as the official spelling. The older English spelling of ''Frankfort'' is now rarely seen in reference to Frankfurt am Main, although more than a dozen other towns and cities, mainly in the United States, use this spelling, including [[Frankfort, Kentucky]], [[Frankfort (town), New York|Frankfort, New York]], and [[Frankfort, Illinois]]. ''The New York Times'' first used the Frankfurt spelling for Frankfurt am Main on 24 October 1953 and last used the Frankfort spelling on 10 June 1954.

The suffix ''am Main'' has been used regularly since the 14th century. In English, the city's full name of ''Frankfurt am Main'' means "Frankfurt on the Main" (pronounced like English ''mine'' or German {{lang|de|mein}}). Frankfurt is located on an ancient ford (German: ''{{Lang|de|Furt}}'') on the river [[Main (river)|Main]]. As a part of early [[Franconia]], the inhabitants were the early [[Franks]], thus the city's name reveals its legacy as "the ford of the Franks on the Main".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M1JIPAN-eJ4C&pg=PA135 |title=Placenames of the world |last=Room |first=Adrian |publisher=McFarland |year=2006 |page=135 |access-date=23 July 2009 |isbn=978-0-7864-2248-7 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722025846/http://books.google.com/books?id=M1JIPAN-eJ4C&lpg=PA135&pg=PA135 |archive-date=22 July 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Among English speakers, the city is commonly known simply as Frankfurt, but Germans occasionally call it by its full name to distinguish it from the other (significantly smaller) German city of [[Frankfurt (Oder)|Frankfurt an der Oder]] in the [[States of Germany|''Land'']] of [[Brandenburg]] on the Polish border.

The city district [[Bonames]] has a name probably dating back to Roman times, thought to be derived from ''{{Not a typo|bona me(n)sa}}'' (good table).

The common abbreviations for the city, primarily used in railway services and on road signs, are ''Frankfurt (Main)'', ''Frankfurt (M)'', ''Frankfurt a. M.'', ''Frankfurt/Main'' or ''Frankfurt/M''. The common [[abbreviation]] for the name of the city is "FFM". Also in use is "FRA", the [[International Air Transport Association airport code|IATA code]] for Frankfurt Airport.