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Glite Dictionary
Arabian Gulf

Arabian Gulf

4.2
A shallow sea between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula with many oil fields
  • proper noun
translation icon : Golfo Arábigo
  • The discovery of oil in the Arabian Gulf transformed the region's economy.

Examples

  • Maritime boundaries in the Arabian Gulf have been a source of dispute among neighboring countries.

  • The President has dispatched battle groups to the Arabian Gulf and Yellow Sea.

    Transformers (2007)

  • The Arabian Gulf is rich in oil reserves.

Synonyms

Persian Gulf
vsArabian Gulf
29 3.4

A shallow sea between Iran and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula

is an alternative name used for the same body of water

Surface Forms

Arabian Gulf main

Morphology

Arabian + gulf

The phrase is directly compositional: 'Arabian' (pertaining to Arabia) + 'gulf' (a stretch of sea) yields a body of sea associated with Arabia, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a gulf by the Arabian peninsula. Although the toponym is politically contested (commonly also called the Persian Gulf), that does not prevent the basic meaning being transparent and derivable from the constituents.

Etymology

Arabian Gulf comes from the simple image of the sea near Arabia: Arabian (from Arabia) plus Gulf (a part of the sea). Because people in many Arab countries use this name for that sea, Arabian Gulf is today another name for the 'Persian Gulf'.