bai

American  

[bahy] / baɪ /

noun

1. a yellow mist occurring in eastern China and Japan during the spring and fall, caused by dust from the interior of China.

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Etymology

Origin of bai

< Japanese < Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese mái dust storm

Explanation

The word bai has two distinct meanings: It can refer to a "yellow mist" of mineral dust that sweeps across East Asia. Or it can refer to a lush, swampy clearing in the heart of the Central African rainforest. In East Asia, a bai is like a yellow haze caused by desert soil being lifted by wind from Central China and carried toward Japan, coating cities in a fine dust. But the more common use of bai is relevant to a completely different continent: It's a mineral-rich, marshy rainforest clearing in the Congo Basin of Central Africa. Such clearings are gathering places for African species like forest elephants, gorillas, and antelopes, who obtain essential nutrients from the soil. The word comes from the Ba'Aka language, where it literally means "clearing."

Example Sentences

From Katy Payne, McGrain learned of Andrea Turkalo, an elephant behavioral biologist who, for more than twenty years, had been working in Dzanga bai, a remote forest clearing in the Central African Republic.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 14, 2018

The first paper she published after leaving the bai was for the February 2017, issue of the Journal of Applied Ecology.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 14, 2018

At Mondayoff, a Vietnamese restaurant in Brooklyn, co-owner Benjaporn Chua uses pandan in the marinade for gai yang bai toey, a traditional grilled chicken dish.

From Washington Post • Dec. 19, 2017

Bahit gave Kalron permission to visit the bai.

From The New Yorker • May 4, 2015

We were sitting at our table, a corner one for two, which allowed her a view of the entire place, from the customers’ entrance, through the bai; to the kitchen.

From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat