Liman (Лиман) is a Hellenized Russian adaptation of the
Medieval Greek λιμένας (
limenas) meaning
bay or
port. The term is usually used in place of the more universal
delta, with its implication of
landform, to describe wet
estuaries in the
Black Sea and the
Sea of Azov. A synonymous term
guba (губа) is used in Russian sources for estuaries of the Russian shores in the north. A
liman is formed at the widening mouth of a
river, where
flow is blocked by a
bar of
sediments.
Liman can be maritime (the bar being created by the
current of a sea) or
fluvial (the bar being created by the
flow of a bigger river at the
confluence).