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lagoon

 [luh-goon]   Example Sentences Origin

la·goon

   [luh-goon]
noun
1.
an area of shallow water separated from the sea by low sandy dunes. Compare laguna.
2.
Also, lagune. any small, pondlike body of water, especially one connected with a larger body of water.
3.
an artificial pool for storage and treatment of polluted or excessively hot sewage, industrial waste, etc.
Origin:
1605–15; earlier laguna (singular), lagune (plural) < Italian < Latin lacūna (singular), lacūnae (plural) ditch, pool, akin to lacus basin, lake1; see lacuna

Related forms
la·goon·al, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Lagoon is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
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Example Sentences
  • In summer, the lagoon bordering the central business district smells of sewage.
  • We lowered two red skiffs from our research vessel, loaded our diving gear, and sped off toward the lagoon.
  • Landscapers built a lagoon for koi carp and swans that would be sustained with reclaimed wastewater generated by guests.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
lagoon (ləˈɡuːn)
 
—n
1.  a body of water cut off from the open sea by coral reefs or sand bars
2.  any small body of water, esp one adjoining a larger one
 
[C17: from Italian laguna, from Latin lacūna pool; see lacuna]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

lagoon
1612, from Fr. lagune, from It. laguna "pond, lake," from L. lacuna "pond, hole," from lacus "pond" (see lake). Originally in ref. to the region of Venice; applied 1769 to the lake-like stretch of water enclosed in a South Seas atoll.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
lagoon   (lə-gn')  Pronunciation Key 

  1. A shallow body of salt water close to the sea but separated from it by a narrow strip of land, such as a barrier island, or by a coral reef.

  2. A shallow pond or lake close to a larger lake or river but separated from it by a barrier such as a levee.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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