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Glite Dictionary
Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay

1 3.5
A port city in northwestern Ontario on the shore of Lake Superior
  • proper noun
: Thunder Bay
  • The local economy of Thunder Bay thrives on shipping and tourism due to its strategic location.

Examples

  • Many tourists come to Thunder Bay to experience its unique culture and natural attractions.

  • Steve Wilson, Thunder Bay, ON.

    Blog text (10)

  • I visited Thunder Bay last summer and enjoyed the beautiful views of Lake Superior.

Surface Forms

Thunder Bay main

Morphology

Thunder + bay

Thunder Bay is a proper name referring to a specific city, so its meaning is a particular referent rather than a compositional combination of 'thunder' + 'bay'. While 'bay' might suggest a geographic inlet, knowing the constituent words does not allow a B1 learner to infer that this is the name of a port city in northwestern Ontario, making the expression non‑derivable from its parts.

Etymology

Thunder Bay probably comes from the loud storms on Lake Superior. One popular story says early visitors and local people heard the water and sky boom like 'thundering waters', so the place was called Thunder Bay and the city kept that name.