Carpentaria

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A large, shallow body of sea water on northern Australia's coast, lying between Cape York Peninsula and Arnhem Land
2. The broad, shallow gulf on the north coast of Australia that separates Cape York from the Arnhem Land region
3. A wide inlet of the Arafura Sea bordering northern Australia, known for its shallow waters and tropical climate

Etymology: Australia's great northern inlet, the Gulf of Carpentaria, is named after a man who never saw it. Pieter de Carpentier was governor-general of the Dutch East Indies, and Dutch explorers gave the gulf his name in his honour. The Latinised form "Carpentaria" was the one that stuck on maps. The surname itself is a plain job title. Carpentier comes from Old French "carpentier", meaning carpenter, which descends from Late Latin "carpentarius", a maker of carts and wagons. That Latin word came from "carpentum", a two-wheeled vehicle, so a sea on the far side of the world carries the name of a cartwright.