bay

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“
The sea ran inwards in a noble bay, and the bay was almost landlocked with an island, but down below us was a myriad twinkling lights, hundreds of them, rising and falling.

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Definitions (94)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (22)

  1. noun A body of water partially enclosed by land but with a wide mouth, affording access to the sea: the Bay of Biscay.
  2. noun An area of land, such as an arm of prairie partially enclosed by woodland, that resembles in shape or formation a partially enclosed body of water.
  3. noun Architecture A part of a building marked off by vertical elements, such as columns or pilasters: an arcade divided into ten bays.
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Examples (50)

  • Across the bay is the renovated Art Deco district, including South Beach (SoBe), which has become a mecca in its own right, attracting celebrities and those who follow them, whether it be with camera or with autograph book.
  • Now the bay is a bridge, allowing you to explore and connect with the landscape from different points of view.
  • The sea ran inwards in a noble bay, and the bay was almost landlocked with an island, but down below us was a myriad twinkling lights, hundreds of them, rising and falling. —  The McBrides A Romance of Arran
  • This bay was the true cul-de-sac, having no other outlet or inlet than the narrow pass just mentioned; though it was very large, was dotted with islands, and reached quite to the vicinity of Loam Island, or within a mile, or two, of the Reef The main question was whether the schooner and the sloop could pass through the opening which communicated between the reach and the bay. —  The Crater
  • The town itself does not amount to much, but the bay is a gem, a little, circular basin, forest-shaded to its border, its waters clear as crystal. —  Cuba, Old and New
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Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

lake ·  valley ·  island ·  port ·  harbor ·  shore ·  chamber ·  ocean ·  mountain ·  cave ·  corridor ·  beach

Used in the same contextWord Family

bay:   baying ·  bays ·  bayed
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (17)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. Middle English, from Old French baie, perhaps from baer, to open out, gape; see bay2.
  2. Middle English, from Old French baee, an opening, from baer, to gape, from Vulgar Latin *badāre.
  3. Middle English, from Old French bai, from Latin badius.
  4. Middle English, from abai, cornering a hunted animal, from Old French, from abaiier, to bark, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *abbaiāre : Latin ad-, ad- + Vulgar Latin *badāre, to gape, yawn. V., from Middle English baien, to bark, from abaien, from Old French abaiier.
  5. Middle English, from Old French baie, berry, from Latin bāca.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (12)

  1. Early modern English also baye, baie, from Middle English bay, baie, a berry, especially that of the laurelor bay-tree, perhaps from Anglo-Saxon beg, berry, occurring only in plural beger, begir, glossed baccinia, i. e. vaccinia, ‘blueberries’ (see Vaccinium), and in comp. begbeám, literally ‘berry-tree,’ applied both to the mulberry-tree (Greek μορέα) and to the bramble or blackberry-bush (Greek βάτος). But the Middle English form, like Middle Dutch beye, baeye, a berry, a laurel-berry, agrees also with, and may have come directly from, Old French baie, baye, modern F. baie = Provencal baia = Spanish baya, Old Spanish baca = Portuguese baga, baca = Italian bacca, a berry, from Latin bāca, less correctly bacca, a berry; cf. Lithuanian bapka, a laurel-berry.
  2. Early modern English also baye, from Middle English baye, from Old French baie, baye, modern F. baie = Provencal baia = Spanish bahia, formerly also baia, baya (later Basque baia, baiya), = Portuguese bahia = Italian baja (cf. German bai, from Dutch baai, Middle Dutch baeye = Danish bai, from English bay), from Late Latin baia, a bay, first mentioned by Isidore, and said to have its genitive in -as, implying its existence at a much earlier period; perhaps connected with L. Baiæ, plural, a noted watering-place on the coast of Campania, hence applied also to any watering-place. Bay in this sense has been confused in English and Roman with bay.
  3. Early modern English also baye, baie, from Middle English bay, baye, from Old French baee, an opening, gap, modern F. baie, a bay (from Middle Latin as if *badata), on type of feminine past participle, from baer, beer, bayer, modern F. bayer, from Late Latin badare, gape (cf. English gap, n., gape, v.): see bay. This word has been confused with bay.
  4. from Old French bayer, beer, baer, gape, from Late Latin badare, modern F. bayer, dial. bader = Provencal badar = Catalan badar = Italian badare, from Late Latin badare, gape, be open. Cf. bay and bay.
  5. Early modern English also baye, from Middle English bayen, from Old French bayer = Italian bajare (also in comp., Middle English abayen, from Old French abayer, abaier, abbayer, modern F. aboyer = Italian abbajare), bark; of uncertain origin, perhaps imitative (cf. English bawl, bark, Latin baubari, Middle Latin baulare, German bailen, bark, and English baw, bow-wow), but prob. associated in earlier use with Old French baer, beer, bayer = Italian badare, from Late Latin badare, gape: see bay, and cf. bay, n., in which the two notions unite. In some senses the verb is from the noun.
  6. Early modern English also baye, beye, from Middle English bay, baie, of different origin, according as it stands (a) for bay, a barking, from bay, Middle English bayen, bark; (b) by apheresis for abay, from Old French abai, abay, abbay, aboy, modern F. aboi, a barking, from abayer, bark (see bay, v.), especially in the phrase to be or stand at bay (or at a bay, which is perhaps always to be read at abay), to bring to bay; (c) in the phrase to hold at bay, representing Old French tenir a bay, Italian tenere a bada, hold in suspense or expectation, literally on the gape: Old French bay (= Italian bada), suspense, literally gaping, from baer = Italian badare, gape, a verb prob. in part connected with bay, bark: see above.
  7. I. a. Early modern English also baye, baie, from Middle English bay, baye, from Old French bai, modern F. bai = Provencal bai = Spanish bayo = Portuguese baio = Italian bajo, from Latin badius (later English badious), bay, in ref. to a color of horses. II. n. Rarely in singular bay (= Dutch baai = Middle Low German baie, Low German baje (later G. boi) = Danish bai = Swedish boi), usually in plural bays, early modern English bayes, baies, baize (whence the modern singular baize, q. v.), from Old French baies, plural of baie, feminine of bai, adjective
  8. Origin uncertain; the Middle English “bay, or withstondynge, obstaculum,” may possibly be a use of bay in to stand at bay, etc.: see bay, v.
  9. Perhaps from the related noun (bay), or, as the source of that, from Icelandic bægja, push back, hinder, from bāgr, opposition, collision; cf. fara i bāg, come athwart.
  10. Short for bay-antler.
  11. English dial., from Middle English beien, beighen, beiʒen, bien, buyen, buʒen, from Anglo-Saxon bēgan, biégan, bīgan, by¯gan (= OFries. bēja = Middle Dutch boghen = Middle Low German bogen = Old High German bougen, Middle High German böugen, German beugen = Icelandic beygja = Swedish böja = Danish böje = Gothic (Moesogothic) baugjan), transitive bend, causative of būgan (= Gothic (Moesogothic) biugan, etc.), English bow, intransitive bend: see bow, and cf. bail.
  12. Only in Spenser, who also uses embay for embathe, in most instances for the sake of rime.
 

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