inlet

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɪnlɛt/ UK /ˈɪnlɛt/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
a small narrow arm of water reaching inland; an opening for intake

They moored the boat in a sheltered inlet for the night.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a small narrow arm of water... cove bay creek estuary intake opening

Opposites

outlet headland

Word family

Related forms let outlet inlay

Etymology

From Middle English, a compound of in (adverb/preposition) + let (from the verb 'to let', in the older sense 'to allow to pass'), from Old English in + lætan ('to allow, let').

in Old English lætan Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

# inlet

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈɪnlɛt
**IPA (UK):** ˈɪnlɛt

## Meanings
1. a small narrow arm of water reaching inland; an opening for intake

## Examples
- They moored the boat in a sheltered inlet for the night.

## Synonyms
- cove
- bay
- creek
- estuary
- intake
- opening

## Antonyms
- outlet
- headland

## Related Forms
- let
- outlet
- inlay

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: in
- Root: lætan

## Etymology
From Middle English, a compound of in (adverb/preposition) + let (from the verb 'to let', in the older sense 'to allow to pass'), from Old English in + lætan ('to allow, let').

## AI Etymology
Inlet comes from Middle English, a compound of in (adverb/preposition) + let (from the verb 'to let', in the older sense 'to allow to pass'), from Old English in + lætan ('to allow, let'). The compound structure is semantically important: one element narrows the setting, direction, or quality, and the other supplies the object, action, or base idea. As a noun, it denotes "a small narrow arm of water reaching inland; an opening for intake", keeping the historical idea close to its dictionary sense. Relevant historical forms include Old English in and Old English lætan. Related words include let, outlet, inlay.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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