a long narrow inlet of the seacoast, being a former valley that was submerged by a rise in the level of the sea. Rias are found esp on the coasts of SW Irelandand NW Spain
Word origin
C19: from Spanish, from rio river
RIA in British English
abbreviation for
Royal Irish Academy
ria in American English
(ˈriə; ˈriɑ)
noun
a long, narrow, wedge-shaped inlet, uniformly widening and deepening toward the sea
Word origin
Ger < Sp ría, estuary < río, river < VL rius, for L rivus, brook, stream < IE *reiwos < base *er-, to set in motion > run
Examples of 'ria' in a sentence
ria
She thinks of herself: a night heron winging its way across the waters, across the moonlit ria of life.