Wash, Watercourse, Water Gap, Well, Wind Gap: Origins, Forms, Histories of Words Meaning Valley, Cave

The natural features of a region are its topography (Greek topos, "place"). Topographic features often have a wide range of names that denote similar entities.

Valleys and caves, for example, along with related natural features and human-made structures, go by many different names. In the current alphabetic series of such terms, here are the origins, forms, and histories of the following examples: wash, watercourse, water gap, well, and wind gap.

Wash
The Modern English noun wash (17th century) comes from Middle English wasche (15th century), which derives from the verb that goes back to Old English wascan ("to wash," before 12th century). The word is akin to Old High German waskan ("to wash") and perhaps to Old English waeter ("water").

A low-lying tract of land, often flooded, is a wash (15th century).

The dry bed of a stream is a wash or a dry wash (both 19th century).

Watercourse
Watercourse, a simple combination of the English words water and course ("path"), emerged in the 16th century.

A stream of water, hence a natural bed or artificial channel through which water flows, is a watercourse (16th century).

Water Gap
Water gap, a simple combination of the English words water and gap ("break, separation"), first appeared in the 18th century.

A pass in a mountain ridge through which a stream runs is a water gap (1756).

Well
Modern English well goes back through Middle English well, welle to Old English well, welle (before 12th century). The word is akin to Old English weallan ("to bubble") and to Old High German wella ("wave").

The original meaning of well is an issue of water from the earth (9th century).

A pit or hole sunk into the earth to reach a supply of water is a well (10th century).

A deep vertical hole dug into the earth for any of various purposes is also a well (17th century).

Wind Gap
Wind gap, a simple combination of the English words wind and gap ("break, separation"), evolved in the 18th century.

A notch in the crest of a mountain ridge, or a pass not carrying a stream, is a wind gap (1769).
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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.