bay: There are no fewer than six distinct words bay in English. The ‘sea inlet’ [14] comes via Old French baie from Old Spanish bahia. Bay as in bay leaf [14] comes from a different Old French word baie, whose source was Latin bāca ‘berry’. The ‘reddish-brown colour of a horse’ [14] comes via Old French bai from Latin badius, which is related to Old Irish buide ‘yellow’.
The ‘recessed area or compartment’ [14] comes from yet another Old French baie, a derivative of the verb bayer ‘gape, yawn’, from medieval Latin batāre (English acquired abash and abeyance from the same source, and it may also be represented in the first syllable of beagle). Bay ‘bark’ [14] comes from Old French abaiier, in which the element -bai- probably originated as an imitation of a dog howling.
And it is the source of bay as in at bay [13] (from Old French abai), the underlying idea of which is that of a hunted animal finally turning and facing its barking pursuers. => abash, abeyance, beagle
bay (n.1)
"inlet of the sea," c. 1400, from Old French baie, Late Latin baia (c.640), perhaps ultimately from Iberian bahia.
bay (n.2)
"opening in a wall," late 14c. (especially bay window, early 15c.), from Old French baee "opening, hole, gulf," noun use of fem. past participle of bayer "to gape, yawn," from Medieval Latin batare "gape," perhaps of imitative origin. It is the bay in sick-bay.
bay (n.3)
"howl of a dog," early 14c., earlier "howling chorus raised (by hounds) when in contact with the hunted animal," c. 1300, from Old French bayer, from PIE root *bai- echoic of howling (compare Greek bauzein, Latin baubari "to bark," English bow-wow; also see bawl). From the hunting usage comes the transferred sense of "final encounter," and thence, on the notion of putting up an effective defense, at bay.
bay (adj.)
"reddish-brown," usually of horses, mid-14c., from Anglo-French bai (13c.), Old French bai, from Latin badius "chestnut-brown" (used only of horses), from PIE *badyo- "yellow, brown" (cognates: Old Irish buide "yellow"). Also elliptical for a horse of this color.
bay (n.4)
laurel shrub (Laurus nobilis, source of the bay leaf), late 14c., originally only of the berry, from Old French baie (12c.) "berry, seed," from Latin baca "berry." Extension to the shrub itself is from 1520s. The leaves or sprigs were woven as wreaths for conquerors or poets. Bayberry first recorded 1570s, after the original sense had shifted.
bay (v.)
"to bark or howl (at)," late 14c., from bay (n.3). Related: Bayed; baying.
双语例句
1. He was so happy communing with the dolphin in Dingle Bay.
他在丁格尔湾与海豚交流的时候特别开心。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Monstrously inflated prices are designed to keep people like us at bay.
疯狂飞涨的价格会使像我们这样的人走投无路。
来自柯林斯例句
3. The house commanded some splendid views of Delaware Bay.
从这座房子可以俯瞰到特拉华湾壮丽的景致。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Ferries churn the waters of Howe Sound from Langdale to Horseshoe Bay.
渡船搅起豪湾的海水，从兰代尔驶向霍斯舒湾。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Monstrously inflated costs are designed to keep the hoi polloi at bay.