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estuary|ˈɛstjuːərɪ|
Forms: 6 estuarie, (7 estuar), 6– estuary; also æstuary.
[ad. L. æstuāri-um, prop. adj. ‘tidal’, hence a tidal marsh or opening, f. æstus heat, boiling, bubbling, tide.]
1. gen. A tidal opening, an inlet or creek through which the tide enters; an arm of the sea indenting the land. rare in mod. use.
1538Leland Itin. V. 29 A greate Sande with a shorte Estuary into the Lande. 1665Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 219 Two Castles..sufficiently defended..by the Estuary of the Sea. 1782W. Gilpin Wye (1789) 128 The finest estuary [Cardiff] we had seen in Wales. 1825Heber Jrnl. (1828) II. xxi. 389 The country resembled extremely a large aestuary, but studded with rocky islands. 1839Stonehouse Axholme 53 The word Fleet means an estuary or arm of the sea. 1880Haughton Phys. Geog. v. 238 The La Plata..is rather an estuary of the sea than a river.
2. spec. The tidal mouth of a great river, where the tide meets the current of fresh water.
15..Stow Annales (1615) 3 The Riuer of Taus..breaketh into the German sea, and at y⊇ mouth forceth great estuars or armes of the sea. 1798Skrine Tour S. Wales (T.), The river swells into a great estuary, and in sight forms the Bristol Channel. a1804W. Gilpin (T.), Among the solitary birds, which frequent the estuaries of rivers. 1830Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 265 Estuaries (a term which we confine to inlets entered both by rivers and tides of the sea). 1853Phillips Rivers Yorksh. i. 1 Estuaries worthy of such tributaries. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 212 Upraised deposits of silt..skirt the estuary of the Clyde.
†3. A place where liquid boils up. Obs.
1684Boyle Wks. (1772) IV. 799 Whether..over the æstuary..there arise any visible mineral fumes.
transf.1825New Monthly Mag. XVI. 50 Bacon was accustomed to take a draught of March-beer towards bedtime, to settle this æstuary of his mind.
†4. A vapour-bath. Obs.
1657Tomlinson Renou's Disp. 189 Chirurgions have invented a certain æstuary..like a bird-cage. 1706Phillips, æstuary.
5. attrib. (sometimes quasi-adj. = estuarine).
1832Lyell Princ. Geol. II. 280 Estuary shells are more frequently liable..to be intermixed with the exuviæ of pelagic tribes. 1845Darwin Voy. Nat. vii. (1852) 129 My reasons for considering the Pampæan formation to be an estuary deposit were, etc. 1884Daily News 7 Oct. 6/1 While the estuary fishermen have reaped a remunerative harvest, the rod men have had little or no fishing.
Add:6. Special Comb. Estuary English, a term applied (with reference to the estuary of the River Thames) to a type of accent identified as spreading outwards from London, mainly into the south-east of England, and containing features of both received pronunciation and such regional accents as Cockney.
1984D. Rosewarne in Times Educ. Suppl. 19 Oct. 29/1 What I have chosen to term Estuary English may now and for the forseeable future, be the strongest native influence upon RP. ‘Estuary English’ is a variety of modified regional speech... ‘Estuary English’ is a mixture of ‘London’ and General RP forms. 1993Sunday Times 14 Mar. 1/8 It is the classless dialect sweeping southern Britain. Estuary English, the ‘high cockney’ diction typified by Ken Livingstone, Nigel Kennedy and Lord Tebbit, has taken such a hold on the way millions speak that it could become the standard spoken English of the future. 1993New Musical Express 8 May 24/1 With his hangdog expression and deadpan Estuary English patter, rock telly's most unlikely host not only presents Later but..arranges many ground-breaking musical collaborations. |