Sluice, Strath, Subway, Tomb, Torrent: Origins, Forms, Histories of Words Meaning Valley, Cave
Valleys and caves, for example, as well as related natural features and human-made forms, are known by a wide range of words in English. In the current alphabetic series of such terms, the next examples are sluice, strath, subway, tomb, and torrent.
Sluice
Modern English sluice (17th century) comes from sluse (16th century), an alteration of Middle English scluse (14th century), from Middle French escluse, from Late Latin exclusa, from Latin exclusa, the feminine of exclusus, the past participle of excludere ("to exclude").
An artificial water passage fitted with a valve or gate for regulating flow is a sluice (14th century), as is a channel to drain or carry off excess water (1538) and a long inclined trough designed to catch gold (1862).
An artificial channel into which water is let by a sluice is a sluiceway (1779).
Strath
Strath entered English in the 16th century from Scottish Gaelic srath. The word is akin to Middle Irish srath ("wide valley") and Welsh ystrad ("wide valley").
A wide, flat river valley or the low-lying grassland along it is a strath (1540).
Subway
Subway entered English in the 19th century as a combination of the English prefix sub- (from Latin sub, "under, below") and way.
An underground way, such as a passage for pipes or a tunnel for pedestrians, is a subway (1825).
An underground railway (including the rails, the train, and the tunnel itself) was first called a subway in 1904 in the United States. In England such a system is called an underground or a tube.
Tomb
Modern English tomb comes from Middle English tomb (14th century) and tumbe (13th century), from Anglo-French tumbe, from Late Latin tumba ("sepulchral mound"), from Greek tymbos ("sepulchral mound"). The word may be akin to Latin tumere ("to be swollen").
An excavation in the earth for the burial of a dead body is a tomb (13th century).
Torrent
Torrent entered English in the 16th century from Middle French torrent, from Latin torrent-, a combining form of torrens, from the Latin adjective torrent-, torrens ("burning, seething, rushing"), from the present participle of torrere ("to parch, burn").
A mountain stream flowing with great force, hence the channel that carries the stream, is a torrent (16th century).
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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.
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