lagoon English · revision 2179

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ləˈɡuːn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|lagune]]^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and [[bor|it|laguna|t=pond, lake]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) [[der|la|lacūna|t=pool, hollow, gap]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from ''lacus'' “lake”.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) It is related to ''lake'' and ''lacuna''.^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An area of salt or brackish water separated from the sea by low sandbanks, especially those near Venice (1612).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) The earliest English forms are ''laguna'' (1612) and ''lagune'' (1673).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In English the word originally referred to the region of Venice.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) In 1769 Captain Cook applied it to the lake-like water enclosed in a South Sea atoll,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and in America and Australia it was used of shallow freshwater ponds.^(OED 1989) From 1909 it also names an artificial pool for treating sewage or waste.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1612 – ''laguna'', a coastal saltwater lagoon near Venice.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1673 – ''lagune''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1769 – the water inside an atoll.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1909 – an artificial pool for sewage treatment.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A shallow body of water separated from the sea by sandbars, dunes or coral reefs.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A shallow pond or channel near or connected with a larger body of water.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # A shallow artificial pool for the treatment or storage of sewage or other liquid waste.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lagoonal]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lake]]

+ * [[lacuna]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}