Loch (/lɒx/ LOKH) is a word meaning "lake" or "sea inlet" in Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough".[1] A small loch is called a lochan.
Lochs which connect to the sea may be called "sea lochs" or "sea loughs". Some such bodies of water could also be called firths, fjords, estuaries, straits or bays.
- ^ "lough". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/8929108233. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)