Estuary
/ˈɛs.tʃuˌɛr.i/noun
The wide mouth of a river where it meets the sea and is affected by tides.
Did you know?Estuary comes from Latin aestuarium, from aestus meaning “tide, surge, boiling heat,” so the word originally carried the force of restless, seething water.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂eyd-
“to burn, heat”
Latin
Latin
aestus
“tide, surge, boiling heat”
Latin
Latin
aestuarium
“a tidal inlet, place affected by the tide”
Middle English
English
estuary
“a tidal inlet or marshy mouth of a river”
Modern English
English
estuary
“the wide mouth of a river where it meets the sea”