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Glite Dictionary
Saint John River

Saint John River

3.7
A river in northeastern North America that starts in Maine and flows through New Brunswick to the Bay of Fundy
  • proper noun
  • /seɪnt dʒɒn ˈrɪvər/
translation icon : río San Juan
  • The Saint John River forms part of the border between Maine and New Brunswick.

Examples

  • Spring flooding along the Saint John River can cause significant damage to nearby towns.

  • Many communities rely on the Saint John River for their water supply and recreation.

  • The Saint John River is known for its beautiful scenery.

  • Can you tell me more about the Saint John River?

  • Many communities rely on the Saint John River for their water supply and recreation.

  • Spring flooding along the Saint John River can cause significant damage to nearby towns.

  • The Saint John River forms part of the border between Maine and New Brunswick.

Synonyms

St. John River
vsSaint John River
3.4

A river that starts in Maine, USA and flows northeast through New Brunswick into the Bay of Fundy

uses the full unabbreviated name without extra country detail
Saint John
vsSaint John River
5.1

A river that starts in northern Maine and flows northeast through New Brunswick into the Bay of Fundy

uses the full saint word while also including the common feature term
St. John
vsSaint John River
5.0

A river that starts in Maine and flows northeast through New Brunswick to the Bay of Fundy

keeps the common feature word instead of omitting it when naming the place

Surface Forms

Saint John River main

Morphology

saint + John + river

This is a compositional place name: 'saint' + 'John' + 'river' transparently indicates a river called (or named after) Saint John. Even though it's a proper noun, a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can infer it refers to a river with that name, and the naming pattern is cross-linguistically common.

Etymology

Saint John River takes its name from early European explorers who named the water for the Christian saint Saint John, often because they reached it on 'St John's Day' or wanted to honour him. That's why the name simply means the river named for that saint.