You searched for: “estuaries
estuary (s) (noun), estuaries (pl)
1. A tidal opening, an inlet or creek through which the tide enters; an arm of the sea indenting the land.
2. The tidal mouth of a great river, where the tide meets the current of fresh water.
3. A semi-enclosed coastal body of water that has a connection with the open sea and within which fresh water and salt water mix by means of currents and tides.
4. Etymology: from Latin aesturium, "a tide place" from aestus, "boiling heat, fire; the ebb and flow of the sea, tide"; related to aestus, "heat".

An estuary is the mouth of a river where the tide of the ocean and the current of the river meet, and the rough waters at such a point demanded a word of action. The Latin aestuarium gave us the word from aestus which meant "heat, bubbling, boiling" and so the "swelling sea".

—According to Wilfred Funk, Litt. D. in his
Word Origins and Their Romantic Stories;
Publishers Grosset & Dunlap; New York; 1950; page 339.

There are those who are trying to develop the tidal energy of the estuaries; that is, water-powered turbines that spin in the current as the tides come and go, turning generators to make electricity that is lean and, they hope, reasonably priced.

Estuaries make promising locations for tidal power if the technology improves and more power can be generated in slower currents.

—Based on information located in
"Tide and time beckon green-energy entrepreneurs" by Henry Fountain;
International Herald Tribune; April 23, 2010; page 16.
This entry is located in the following units: -ary (page 4) estiv-, aestiv-; estuar-, aestuar- (page 1)