What Does The Word "Channel" Mean In The English Channel?

The term 'channel' when used to describe a waterway such as the English Channel means a piece of water which is wider than a strait and which joins two larger pieces of water. There is no definition of a maximum width of a strait and so there is no minimum width for a channel. The English Channel connects the North Sea with the Atlantic. You can see from maps that the Channel is far wider, even at its narrowest point, than, for example, the Strait of Gibraltar. Other less well known channels off the UK coast include St George's Channel between Wales and Eire and North Channel between Scotland and Northern Ireland. One curiosity is the Bristol Channel. This does not appear to connect two larger pieces of water as it is situated between the North Devon and Somerset coasts and South Wales. The channel leads into the Celtic Sea to the West but to the east is just the Severn Estuary.