An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
English-French-Persian

A deep → inlet of the sea almost surrounded by land, with a narrow mouth; a large deep → bay (OxfordDictionaries.com).

M.E. go(u)lf, from O.Fr. golfe, from It. golfo, from Gk. Gk. kolpos "bay, gulf of the sea," originally "bosom."

Xalij, ultimately from Proto-Ir. *garika-, from *gar- "to soak, moisten" (+ relation suffix -ika-, → -ics; notably the variant Tabari -ij, as in Yušij); cf. Gilaki *xal-, xâlə "stream, brook" (as in the stream names Cam.xâlə, Zât.xâlə, Hašu.xâlə, etc.), Tabari câl in Câlus (name of a river in Mâzandarân); Laki cal.ow "marsh;" Tabari kela, kila "stream;" Baluci kor "river;" Iranian rivers Kor (in the Fârs Province), Kârun and Karxé (both in Xuzestân); in classical Pers. literature kul, kul.âb "pond, reservoir," (prefixed far-) far.qar "a minor stream derived from a more considerable one; the bed of a river when almost dry, the small quantity of water remaining in such a river" (Steingass); âqâridan, âqeštan, farqâridan "to moisten, wet, macerate;" Dari Yazd qeriz "saliva;" Râvar, Bardsir, Kerman geriz "saliva;" Laki xur "swamp;" Tâti xer "cloud;" Bandare Jâski gerâh "moisture;" Ossetic I. qaryn/qard "to permeate, seep through (of liquid);" Shughni (prefixed) ažär- "to soak, wet;" Roshani (prefixed) nižêr-/nižêrd "to soak, wet;" Skt. gal- "to drip;" O.H.G. quellan "to well, to gush;" Ger. Quell, Quelle "source." Note that, according to the classical Pers. dictionary Borhân-e Qâte' compiled in India (17th century), xalij is a Pers. word and not Arabic. Similarly, M.A. Emâm-Shushtari, in his "Dictionary of Persian Words in Arabic," remarks that the Arabic root XLJ is irrelevant to the "gulf" sense.