Lagoon

Lagoon

Noun · /ləˈɡuːn/

Definition

A stretch of salt water separated from the sea by a low sandbank or coral reef; the enclosed water within a coral atoll; a small freshwater lake near a larger body of water.

Origin

From Italian laguna (a pool, a pond), from Latin lacuna (a ditch, a pit, a pool), from lacus (a lake). The same Latin root gives us lake, lacuna (a gap or missing portion), and Latin lacustrine (relating to lakes). The word came to English via Italian in the 17th century, particularly in reference to the lagoon of Venice.