gulf [LME] The Greek word kolpos had a number of meanings relating to a curved shape, including ‘bosom’, ‘the trough between waves’, ‘the depth of the sea’, ‘the fold of a piece of clothing’, and ‘gulf or bay’. This is where our word gulf came from, via Italian and Old French, both the ‘bay’ and ‘depth’ senses arriving at the same time. We can talk about a gulf between two groups [M16th], meaning a great division or difference between them. This was probably influenced by a passage in the Gospel of Luke: ‘Between you and us there is a great gulf set’.