bay

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bay^¹

/ˈbeɪ̯/ US, UK
/ˈbeː/
/ˈbæ̝ɪ̯/ Australia, New Zealand

Sounds like bey, bae (pane–pain merger) · Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

From French baie, from Late Latin baia, probably ultimately from Iberian or Basque badia. Partly displaced native Old English byht, whence bight.

noun bays

A body of water (especially the sea) contained by a concave shoreline. This hotel has a great view across the bay.
Similar: gulf
A bank or dam to keep back water.

bay^²

/ˈbeɪ̯/ US, UK
/ˈbeː/
/ˈbæ̝ɪ̯/ Australia, New Zealand

Sounds like bey, bae (pane–pain merger) · Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

From Middle English baye, baie, from Old English beġ (“berry”), as in beġbēam (“berry-tree”), conflated with Old French baie, from Latin bāca (“berry”).

noun bays

countable A tree or shrub of species Laurus nobilis (family Lauraceae), having dark green leaves and berries.
Similar: bay laurel, Grecian laurel, laurel, sweet bay, true laurel, bay tree
uncountable Bay leaf, the leaf of this or certain other species of tree or shrub, used as a herb.
uncountable Mahogany of species Swietenia macrophylla obtained from Campeche in Mexico.
archaic, countable, in plural, uncountable The leaves of this shrub, woven into a garland used to reward a champion or victor; hence, fame, victory. both you here with many a cursed oth, / Sweare she is yours, and stirre vp bloudie frayes, / To win a willow bough, whilest other weares the bayes.
Similar: laurels
US, countable, dialectal, uncountable A tract covered with bay trees.
countable, obsolete, uncountable A berry.

bay^³

/ˈbeɪ̯/ US, UK
/ˈbeː/
/ˈbæ̝ɪ̯/ Australia, New Zealand

Sounds like bey, bae (pane–pain merger) · Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

From Middle English, from Old French baee, beee, from the verb beer (“gape open”), from Early Medieval Latin batāre. Compare Modern French baie. More at bevel, badinage.

noun bays

An opening in a wall, especially between two columns.
An internal recess; a compartment or area surrounded on three sides. Wrex: And Shepard--I like what you've done with the Normandy. Got tired of always hanging around the cargo bay before.
A display unit in a shop or store, especially a large metal one. end bay
A section of ceiling delineated by supports such as rafters or vaulting ribs.
Each of the spaces, port and starboard, between decks, forward of the bitts, in sailing warships.
A bay platform. There is a short bay at the west end of each platform, but neither is used for passenger trains.
A bay window.
A room for editing video footage or physical film.

bay^⁴

/ˈbeɪ̯/ US, UK
/ˈbeː/
/ˈbæ̝ɪ̯/ Australia, New Zealand

Sounds like bey, bae (pane–pain merger) · Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

From the root *bai, combined with aphetized form of abay; verbal form of baier, abaier.

noun bays

countable, uncountable The excited howling of dogs when hunting or being attacked. The hunt is up, the morn is bright and grey, / The fields are fragrant, and the woods are green. / Uncouple here, and let us make a bay / And wake the Emperor and his lovely bride, / And rouse the Prince, and ring a hunter's peal, / That all the court may echo with the noise.
broadly, countable, uncountable The climactic confrontation between hunting-dogs and their prey.
figuratively, uncountable A state of being obliged to face an antagonist or a difficulty, when escape has become impossible. Embolden'd by despair, he stood at bay.

verb bays · baying · bayed

intransitive To howl. The hounds at nearer distance hoarsely bay'd.
transitive To bark at; hence, to follow with barking; to bring or drive to bay. to bay the bear
transitive To pursue noisily, like a pack of hounds.

bay^⁵

/ˈbeɪ̯/ US, UK
/ˈbeː/
/ˈbæ̝ɪ̯/ Australia, New Zealand

Sounds like bey, bae (pane–pain merger) · Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

From Middle English bay, bai, from Old French bai, from Latin badius (“reddish brown, chestnut”).

adjective bayer · more bay · bayest · most bay

especially, of horses Of a reddish-brown colour with a black mane and tail. Mr. Free also owned restaurants and bred horses. His bay gelding, Packett's Landing, won almost $800,000 in his five-year career in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

noun bays

countable, uncountable A brown colour/color of the coat of some horses.
countable, uncountable A horse of this color. […] browns are the soberest, bays are the worst tempered, and chestnuts are the most foolish.

Bay^⁶

Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

From Somali [Term?].

proper noun

A region of Somalia.

Bay^⁷

Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

From bay.

proper noun the Bay

abbreviation, ellipsis, informal Ellipsis of San Francisco Bay Area (metropolitan area in California): a geographic region of California, United States.
abbreviation, ellipsis, informal Ellipsis of San Francisco Bay: a bay of the Pacific Ocean in California, United States.

proper noun Bays

A surname

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: bay tree, bay laurel, true laurel, colored, colorful, coloured, alcove, quest, in color, laurus nobilis, berry, pod, dock, wah, cove, gulf

Translations

Every language

noun body of water

Español	bahía
한국어	만 man
日本語	湾 wan, 入江 irie
中文	海灣 /海湾 hǎiwān, 灣 /湾 wān
हिन्दी	खाड़ी khāṛī
Kiswahili	ghuba
Português	baía
Français	baie
Deutsch	Bucht
Italiano	baia, golfo
Ελληνικά	κόλπος kólpos
Română	golf
Русский	зали́в zalív, бу́хта búxta
Tiếng Việt	vịnh
العربية	خَلِيج ḵalīj, شَرْم šarm, خُور ḵūr, جُون jūn, jōn
עברית	מפרץ mifráts

noun shrub

Español	laurel
Português	loureiro, louro
Français	laurier
Deutsch	Lorbeer
Italiano	alloro
Ελληνικά	δάφνη dáfni
Русский	лавр lavr, лавро́вое де́рево lavróvoje dérevo

noun distance between two supports in a vault

Português	tramo, intercolúnio
Français	travée
Ελληνικά	κλίτος klítos
Русский	пролёт proljót, просве́т prosvét, ни́ша níša

noun compartment

Español	plataforma, muelle
Português	vão, baia
Français	compartiment, baie
Italiano	vano
Ελληνικά	διαμέρισμα diamérisma
Română	nișă
Русский	отсе́к otsék, ни́ша níša

noun excited barking

Français	aboiement, clabaudage

verb to howl

Français	aboyer, clabauder

adj of reddish-brown color

Español	alazán
Português	alazão
Français	bai
Deutsch	rotbraun, kastanienbraun
Русский	гнедо́й gnedój

noun brown colour/color

Español	alazán
日本語	赤褐色
中文	紅褐色 /红褐色 hónghésè
Português	alazão
Русский	гнедо́й gnedój

noun reddish-brown horse

Español	alazán, alazana
Português	alazão
Română	murg

name bay

Español	La Bahía

name area

中文	灣區 /湾区 Wānqū

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Cite this

MLA

"bay." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bay. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bay. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bay

Chicago

"bay." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bay.

BibTeX

@misc{bay_2026,
  title = {bay},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bay},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}

bay

AI In plain words

bay¹

Where it comes from

noun bays

bay²

Where it comes from

noun bays

bay³

Where it comes from

noun bays

bay⁴

Where it comes from

noun bays

verb bays · baying · bayed

bay⁵

Where it comes from

adjective bayer · more bay · bayest · most bay

noun bays

Bay⁶

Where it comes from

proper noun

Bay⁷

Where it comes from

proper noun the Bay

proper noun Bays

Thesaurus

Translations

noun body of water

noun shrub

noun distance between two supports in a vault

noun compartment

noun excited barking

verb to howl

adj of reddish-brown color

noun brown colour/color

noun reddish-brown horse

name bay

name area

bay^¹

bay^²

bay^³

bay^⁴

bay^⁵

Bay^⁶

Bay^⁷