Dictionary

Gulf of America en · PROPN

Etymology

gulf + America * (Nakhodka Bay): Partial calque of Russian зали́в Америка (zalív Amerika), from зали́в (zalív, “gulf, bay”) and the name of the Russian corvette Америка (Amerika) that discovered the bay. * (Gulf of Mexico): A renaming of the oceanic basin by US president Donald Trump in 2025, although earlier uses exist.

Meanings

1. (obsolete) Synonym of Nakhodka Bay: A bay of Nakhodka, Primorsky Krai, Russia.
2. (US, neologism) Synonym of Gulf of Mexico: A gulf, a marginal sea of the Atlantic, off North America, north of the Caribbean Sea, confined by Mexico, Cuba, United States.
   • Lunday also wrote in the release that the agency would target the "maritime border between Texas and Mexico in the Gulf of America." 2025 January 21, Louis Casiano, quoting Kevin Lunday, “Coast Guard surging assets to Gulf of America, other waterways to support Trump’s executive orders”, in Fox News, archived from the original on 14 Nov 2025:
   • For all official purposes within the State of Mississippi, the body of water that is located directly south of Hancock, Harrison and Jackson Counties shall be known as the "Gulf of America." 2012, Steve Holland, “AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT FOR ALL OFFICIAL PURPOSES WITHIN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE BODY OF WATER LOCATED DIRECTLY SOUTH OF HANCOCK, HARRISON AND JACKSON COUNTIES SHALL BE KNOWN AS THE "GULF OF AMERICA"; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.”, in Mississippi Legislature, archived from the original on 26 Feb 2012:
   • Siesta Key is touched on its south by Sarasota Bay and on its north by The Gulf of Mexico, which Rollie called "the Gulf of America." "It is here, in Sarasota, in the U-S-of-A, it is here legally, it is not unemployed and it does not carry a shiv or eat tacos." "It's the Gulf of America!" "I see nothing Mexican about that body of water at all." 2008, Joseph A. Gillan, chapter 29, in Just before the Dawn: Rebecca Remembered (Fiction), Sarasota, Florida: LIKAJE Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 177:
   • Google is complying with President Donald Trump’s executive action that renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Soon, the name change will appear on Google Maps. 2025 January 28, Jordan Valinsky, “Google Maps will change the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2025:
   • It's hard for Americans to understand the patriotism that can get bound up in place-names. We're a young country. We're also accustomed, in our cockeyed cowboy fashion, to everything else revolving around us, so we can afford to let slide the fact that, say, the Gulf of Mexico isn't called the Gulf of America. (Although, according to John Hebert, that is the pet issue of one frequent complainant to the Board on Geographic Names.) 2011, Ken Jennings, “Benchmarks”, in Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks, Scribner, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 72:

Forms

Relateds

Gulf of Amerika · Lake America

Synonyms

Nakhodka Bay · Gulf of Mexico · Gulf of Mexico · Bay of Mexico · Amerika Bay

Translations (25)

vi vịnh Hoa Kì (Gulf of Mexico) · es golfo de los Estados Unidos (Gulf of Mexico) · ro Golful Americii (Gulf of Mexico) · vi vịnh Hoa Kỳ (Gulf of Mexico) · ms Teluk Mexico (Gulf of Mexico) · fr golfe d'Amérique (Gulf of Mexico) · pl Zatoka Amerykańska (Gulf of Mexico) · es golfo de México (Gulf of Mexico) · sv Mexikanska golfen (Gulf of Mexico) · vi vịnh của Mỹ (Gulf of Mexico) · is Ameríkuflói (Gulf of Mexico) · tl Golpo ng Amerika (Gulf of Mexico) · fr golfe de l'Amérique (Gulf of Mexico) · ru Америка́нский зали́в (Gulf of Mexico) · fr golfe du Mexique (Gulf of Mexico) · hi अमेरिका की खाड़ी (Gulf of Mexico) · vi vịnh châu Mĩ (Gulf of Mexico) · vi vịnh Mỹ châu (Gulf of Mexico) · nb Amerikagolfen (Gulf of Mexico) · vi vịnh châu Mỹ (Gulf of Mexico) · de Golf von Amerika (Gulf of Mexico) · pt golfo da América (Gulf of Mexico) · vi vịnh Mỹ (Gulf of Mexico) · es golfo de América (Gulf of Mexico) · vi vịnh Mĩ (Gulf of Mexico)

wikipedia: Donald Trump