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bay·ou

(bī, bīō)

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, ultimately (probably via Mobilian Jargon, a pidgin based on Choctaw and Chickasaw used along the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico from colonial times until the 1900s) from Choctaw bayuk, creek, river forming part of a delta.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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