"long, narrow inlet of the sea formed by a drowned river valley," from Spanish ria "estuary, river mouth" (adopted as a geological term first in German, 1886), from Latin ripa "stream bank" (see riparian).
Entries linking to ria
riparian adj.
"of or pertaining to river banks, situated on or near a river bank," 1849, with -an + Latin riparius "of a river bank," from riparia "shore," later used in reference to the stream flowing between the banks, from ripa "(steep) bank of a river, shore."
This is probably etymologically "break" (and indicating the drop off from ground level to the stream bed), or else "that which is cut out by the river," from PIE root *rei- "to scratch, tear, cut" (source also of Greek ereipia "ruins," eripne "slope, precipice;" Old Norse rifa "break, to tear apart;" Danish rift "breach," Middle High German rif "riverbank, seashore;" English riven, rift).
Riparious, of animals, "living on or in river banks," is from 1650s.