Jetties

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Structures built to protect a harbor or river entrance from waves and currents
2. Protruding platforms often constructed from wood or concrete that provide access for boats and ships
3. A type of maritime infrastructure designed to facilitate navigation and mitigate erosion along shorelines

Etymology: The word is the plural of "jetty," and the singular began as a thing that thrusts out rather than a thing built to moor boats. In Late Middle English, "gete" and "jette" could mean a projecting upper storey of a building, an overhang that stuck out over the street, as well as a breakwater or pier. Those senses came from Anglo-Norman and Middle French forms like "geté" and "jeté," a noun use of a past participle of "geter" or "jeter," meaning "to throw." The Old French verb descends from Late Latin "iectāre," a frequentative of "iectō," "to throw," so the idea of something cast forward into space lies at the core of the word. Modern French still has the cognate "jetée" for a pier or mole, which helps explain why the harbour sense dominated. Breakwaters and piers are built by throwing stone or timber out from the land, so the old notion of a projection found a new physical home at the water's edge.

Synonyms: piers, wharfs