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Glite Dictionary
Mobile Bay

Mobile Bay

1 4.2
A bay off the Gulf of Mexico in southwestern Alabama where the Mobile River flows
  • proper noun
  • /ˈmoʊbəl beɪ/
translation icon : bahía de Mobile
  • Fairhope, Alabama, a gem on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, exudes small-town charm.
  • Battle of Mobile Bay
  • entrance to Mobile Bay

Examples

  • You actually do not see the beautiful white sands of the Gulf; you see Mobile Bay.

    Blog text (25)

  • Start this rocking ride at Lulu's, home of fried crab claws, then trace white-sand beaches and scout for protected turtles along the southern end of Mobile Bay.

    Blog text (25)

  • The sun rises over Mobile Bay.

  • We move out of Pensacola Bay and into the narrow cut toward Mobile Bay.

Surface Forms

Mobile Bay main

Morphology

Mobile + bay

This is a toponymic construction where the proper name 'Mobile' is combined with the noun 'bay', so a learner who knows 'bay' and recognizes 'Mobile' as a place name will readily infer it denotes a coastal inlet associated with Mobile. The phrase follows a common cross-linguistic pattern (PLACE + bay = the bay near/owned by that place), so its meaning is compositionally transparent even if the learner does not know the exact location.

Etymology

Mobile Bay gets its name from a Native American village or people called Mobile or 'Maubila' who lived by the river long ago. Early settlers kept that name for the town and the bay, so the water there is still called Mobile Bay today.