Covelet

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A little sheltered bay or inlet along a coastline, smaller than a full cove
2. A tiny indentation in the shore where the sea or a lake curves into a sheltered recess
3. A minor coastal recess, a small secluded inlet where water pools within a curve of land

Etymology: "Covelet" is a small sheltered bay, formed by adding the diminutive suffix "-let" to "cove." The suffix comes from Old French "-elet" and in English it marks something as small, as in "booklet," "streamlet," or "piglet." So a covelet is literally a little cove, a tiny inlet where the shoreline curves inward and offers shelter from wind and waves. The base word "cove" has a long history of its own. It was used in Middle English for a sheltered recess or hollow, and it later came to mean a small bay or creek along the coast. Attaching "-let" to it gives English a way to pick out the especially small versions of such features, which is why the word is most often used for a little inlet tucked between headlands rather than for a wide bay.