Lagoon and Lake Come From the Same Word
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from the sea. Its name shares an origin with lake and with the Italian word for Venice's setting.
A lagoon is a shallow stretch of water separated from a larger body by a barrier. The word came through Italian *laguna*, the name for the Venetian lagoon, from Latin *lacuna*, a gap or pool — the same word that gives English *lacuna*, meaning a gap in a text. *Lake* comes from the closely related *lacus*.
- Shallow water behind a barrier. *A coastal lagoon.*
- The water inside an atoll. *A coral lagoon.*
- A treatment pond. *A sewage lagoon.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | lagoon | A blue lagoon. |
| Plural | lagoons | Coastal lagoons. |
| Related | lake | A deep lake. |
| Related | lacuna | A textual lacuna. |
| Related | atoll | A coral atoll. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Venice sits in a lagoon.Which gave the word to English.
- An atoll encloses a lagoon.Coral reef geography.
- A lacuna is a gap in a manuscript.Same Latin root.
Coastal water features
- Lagoon — separated from the sea by a barrier
- Estuary — where a river meets tidal seawater
- Fjord — a deep glacial inlet
- Atoll — a ring reef enclosing a lagoon
- Barrier island — a sandbar creating a lagoon behind it
From Italian and Spanish *laguna*, from Latin *lacuna*, a pool or gap, from *lacus*, a lake — the source of English *lake*.
Are lake and lagoon related?
Yes. Both descend from Latin words for a body of water, *lacus* and its derivative *lacuna*.
What is a lacuna?
A gap, especially a missing portion of a manuscript or an argument. It comes from the same Latin word as lagoon.