aqueduct

American  

[ak-wi-duhkt] / ˈæk wɪˌdʌkt /

noun

• aqueducts
  plural

1. Civil Engineering.

   1. a conduit or artificial channel for conducting water from a distance, usually by means of gravity.

   2. a bridgelike structure that carries a water conduit or canal across a valley or over a river.

2. Anatomy. a canal or passage through which liquids pass.

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aqueduct British  

/ ˈækwɪˌdʌkt /

noun

1. a conduit used to convey water over a long distance, either by a tunnel or more usually by a bridge

2. a structure, usually a bridge, that carries such a conduit or a canal across a valley or river

3. a channel in an organ or part of the body, esp one that conveys a natural body fluid

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• aqueducts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of aqueduct

< Medieval Latin aquēductus < Latin aquae ductus a drawing off of water. See aqua, duct

Explanation

An aqueduct is a bridge-like system built to move water from one location to another. The ancient Romans were particularly famous for their aqueducts and some still stand today. The Romans didn't invent aqueducts, but they did help spawn the English word for one. Aqueduct comes from the Latin word aquæductus, which itself is from the roots aqua, meaning water, and ducere, meaning "to lead." Because of the root word aqua, there is a tendency to try to spell aqueduct with an A in place of the E, but now you'll know better.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

aqueduct aqueducts

The L.A. aqueduct, an astonishing feat of engineering, brought hundreds of millions of gallons a day down more than 200 miles from the Owens Valley into the San Fernando Valley.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

The turmoil in Istanbul played out in the shadow of a Roman aqueduct.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2025

Located in the middle of Mexico, Querétaro is a charming and colourful colonial-style city known for its dazzling stone aqueduct.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2025

Because the water flows by gravity, without the need for pumping, the aqueduct has remained the city’s most economical supply.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2025

We pull into the empty parking lot and to the far back fence, where there’s a concrete aqueduct stretching as far as the eye can see in both directions.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

He proves as adept at building things as destroying them, and oversees large public works, including sewers, aqueducts and the original Pantheon in Rome.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

They were ancient Italy’s first great engineers, ambitious road-builders who drained land for development and showed the Romans how to build their famous aqueducts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026

The museum suffered damage, its windows were blown out, but the explosion did not reach the necropolis nor the Roman-era triumphal arch, aqueducts and hippodrome that are also part of the site.

From Barron's ● Mar. 24, 2026

Bureau of Reclamation recently notified California agencies that it plans to pump more water out of the delta into the southbound aqueducts of the federally operated Central Valley Project.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2025

Long aqueducts conveyed water from the distant mountains across the lake and into the city.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann