A loch is the Scottish word for a lake. Scotland has hundreds of lochs scattered across its rugged landscape, from small mountain pools to enormous bodies of water stretching for miles. The most famous is Loch Ness, known for stories about a mysterious creature supposedly living in its deep, dark waters.

Lochs form in valleys carved out by ancient glaciers, which is why many Scottish lochs are remarkably deep and surrounded by steep hills or mountains. Some lochs, called sea lochs, are actually long inlets where ocean water reaches far inland, similar to fjords in Norway.

When you see “loch” in a place name like Loch Lomond or Loch Katrine, you know you're dealing with Scottish geography. In other parts of the world, these same bodies of water would simply be called lakes, but in Scotland, they're lochs, and that single word captures something about the wild, misty character of the Highlands.