AIT
(ayt)
A
small island Common
clues: River
island; Islet; Small island; Bit of land in a river; Land in the
Thames Crossword
puzzle frequency:
once a year Frequency
in English language:
53359 / 86800 Video: On
the Eyot
An
ait (or eyot) is a small island in a river. It is especially used
to refer to islands found on the River Thames and its tributaries
in England.
Bush
Ait on the River Thames
Aits
are typically formed by the deposition of sediment in the water,
which accumulates over a period of time. An ait is
characteristically long and narrow, and may become a permanent
island. However, aits may also be eroded: the resulting sediment
is deposited further downstream and could result in another ait.
A channel with numerous aits is called a braided channel.
The
words "ait" and "eyot" are not common in
modern English, although a few famous writers have used it,
including J. R. R. Tolkien in his Lord of the Rings books, and
Charles Dickens in Bleak House. It is also used by Thackeray in
"Vanity Fair". More recently, it was used by Terry
Pratchett in the first of the Discworld books, The Colour of
Magic, as well as in the book The Pope's Rhinoceros by Lawrence
Norfolk.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Ait".
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