Bayou
/ˈbaɪ.(j)uː/ noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A slow-moving, often stagnant creek or river.
"You natural persons old and young! / You on the Mississippi and on all the branches and bayous of the Mississippi! / You friendly boatmen and mechanics! you roughs!"
- 2 a swampy arm or slow-moving outlet of a lake (term used mainly in Mississippi and Louisiana) wordnet
- 3 A swamp; a marshy (stagnant) body of water.
"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."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"A corpse was found at the bayou just yesterday."
Etymology
From Louisiana French bayou, from Choctaw bayuk (“a creek”). Doublet of bogue.