embay

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to enclose, shelter, or surround as if within a bay

   Dense hedges embay the secluded garden seat.

2. 2
   verb

   to form a bay or curved recess in a shoreline or landscape

   Steep cliffs embay the narrow strip of sand.

3. 3
   verb

   to bathe or steep in a liquid; an archaic use

   The old poem describes spirits that embay their wings in nectar.

The enclosing sense is formed from em- 'in, into' and bay, referring to containment like that of a bay. An older homonymous sense, 'to bathe,' reflects em- joined to an obsolete verb bay meaning 'bathe.'

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