bayou

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English

Bayou Corne in Assumption Parish, Louisiana in 2010
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Cajun French bayou, from Choctaw bayuk (creek). Doublet of bogue.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbaɪ.(j)uː/, /ˈbaɪ.oʊ/

Noun

bayou (plural bayous)

  1. A slow-moving, often stagnant creek or river.
  2. A swamp; a marshy (stagnant) body of water.
    • 1886, Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, volume 2:
      At that time I had no staff officer who could be trusted with that duty. In the woods, at a short distance below the clearing, I found a depression, dry at the time, but which at high water became a slough or bayou.

Usage notes

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Choctaw bayuk (creek).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ba.ju/
  • Audio (Canada):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ju

Noun

bayou m (plural bayous)

  1. a stagnant body of water left behind by the meandering of the Mississippi River in Louisiana or elsewhere; a bayou

Further reading