Tampa

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A large port city on the Gulf Coast of west-central Florida in the United States ; a broad inlet of the Gulf of Mexico that lies alongside that city
2. A major seaport city in west-central Florida on the Gulf of Mexico ; a wide body of coastal water forming an arm of the Gulf that borders the city
3. A coastal city in western Florida, United States, set on the Gulf of Mexico ; the large bay of the Gulf that opens along its shoreline

Etymology: Florida's Tampa Bay and the city on its shore share a name whose origin is unknown. Scholars think it most likely comes from Calusa, the language of the Indigenous people who lived along Florida's southwestern coast before European contact. Calusa is poorly documented, so no one can recover the exact meaning or confirm the link. The name is now attached to a bay, a city, and a broader region, and its origin remains uncertain. It shows how place names can outlast the languages that gave them, leaving only a sound behind for later speakers to use.