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Bayous

 - 4 dictionary results

bay⋅ou

  [bahy-oo, bahy-oh]
Use Bayous in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ous. Chiefly Lower Mississippi Valley and Gulf States.
1. a marshy arm, inlet, or outlet of a lake, river, etc., usually sluggish or stagnant.
2. any of various other often boggy and slow-moving or still bodies of water.
Origin:
1710–20, Americanism; < LaF, said to be < Choctaw bayuk river forming part of a delta
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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bay·ou   (bī'ōō, bī'ō)   
n.  

  1. A body of water, such as a creek or small river, that is a tributary of a larger body of water.

  2. A sluggish stream that meanders through lowlands, marshes, or plantation grounds.


[Louisiana French bayouque, bayou, possibly from Choctaw bayuk.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

bayou [(beye-ooh, beye-oh)]

Term used mainly in Louisiana and Mississippi to describe a swampy, slowly moving or stationary body of water that was once part of a lake, river, or gulf.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

bayou 
1766, via Louisiana Fr., from Choctaw bayuk "small stream."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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