Sund

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Raised or elevated above a surface ; constructed or built on a higher level than its surroundings ; positioned on a platform or mound to stand out
2. Situated at a height or atop an elevated base ; assembled to be raised from the ground ; set on an uplifted structure or area
3. Placed or fixed in a higher location ; designed to be above ground level ; established on a raised foundation or height

Etymology: Before it named a strait, the root of this word meant swimming. Old English "sund" covered swimming, the sea, and water in general, and it grew from the same Germanic root as "swim." The narrow-channel sense developed from the idea of water you could cross or pass through. English now keeps this word mainly in place names, most famously the Øresund between Denmark and Sweden, which is usually called "the Sound." Anyone who meets the spelling "sund" alone will mostly find it in Scandinavian languages or in older English. The English spelling "sound" for a strait is unrelated to "sound" meaning noise, which comes from Latin "sonus," or "sound" meaning healthy, which comes from Latin "sanus." The three words are homographs that reached English by separate routes.

Synonyms: sound, channel