Flume, Furrow, Gallery, Gap: Origins, Forms, Histories of Words Meaning Valley, Cave

Valleys and caves, as well as human-made features of a similar nature, are known by many different words in English. In the current alphabetic series of such terms, the next examples are flume, fosse, furrow, gallery, and gap.

Flume
Modern English flume comes from Middle English flume (14th century) and flum (12th century), from Old French flum ("river"), from Latin flumen ("river"), from fluere ("to flow").

The original, now-obsolete meaning of flume is a river (12th century).

An artificial inclined channel for conveying water, especially for industrial use, is a flume (18th century).

Topographically a flume is a deep, narrow ravine or gorge with a stream flowing through it (18th century).

Fosse
Fosse entered English in the 15th century from Old French fosse, from Latin fossa, from the feminine of fossus, the past participle of fodere ("to dig"). A variant spelling is foss.

Fosse is another English word meaning any ditch or trench (15th century).

In archaeology the term fosse refers more specifically to a ditch or moat formed to serve as a fortification (15th century).

Furrow
Modern English furrow (16th century) comes from Middle English forow (14th century) and furgh (13th century), from Old English furh (before 12th century). The word is akin to Old High German furuh ("furrow").

The original meaning of furrow is a trench made in the earth by a plow (9th century).

Extended, furrow denotes a trench serving as a drain, specifically a depression that lies between two ridges of cultivated land and conducts excess water from the ground (14th century).

A synonymous term in the drain sense is water furrow, from Middle English water forowe, from Old English waeterfurh (9th century).

Gallery
Modern English gallery (16th century) comes from Middle English galerie (15th century), from Medieval Latin galeria, probably an alteration of galilaea ("galilee," a porch at the entrance of a church).

The original meaning of gallery is a covered place for walking (15th century).

A subterranean passageway in a cave or a drift in a mine is a gallery (1631).

Gap
Gap entered English in the 14th century from Old Norse gap ("chasm, hole"). The word is akin to Old Norse gapa ("to gape").

The original meaning of gap is a break in any barrier, such as a wall (14th century).

A break or opening in a range of mountains, that is, a mountain pass, ravine, or gorge, is a gap (1555). A gap is also a hole or chasm in the ground (1696).
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Encyclopaedia Britannica Ready Reference 2004. CD-ROM. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2004.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2006.

Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary. 3rd ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2007.

The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1989.