Tombolo
/ˈtɒm.bə.loʊ/noun
A narrow ridge of sand or shingle connecting an island to the mainland or to another island.
Did you know?The word is Italian, and although it sounds like it should be linked to tombs, its history is geological rather than ghostly: it entered English through geography and coastal science, not the underworld.
Etymological Timeline
Modern English
English
tombolo
“A sand or shingle bar connecting landforms”
19th Century
Italian
tombolo
“A sandbank or ridge linking an island to the mainland”
Late Latin
Latin
tumba
“A mound or burial mound; later, a tomb”
Ancient Greek
Greek
tymbos
“A burial mound or barrow”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*tewm-
“To swell, rise, or be inflated”