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

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Etymology

Origin of aqueduct

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

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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

In Sylmar, a suburban neighborhood in north Los Angeles that borders the Angeles and San Gabriel National Forests, Varela walked with Mendoza along the L.A. aqueduct.

From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026

The St. Francis Dam, part of the larger aqueduct system, was meant to store surplus water.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Fencing exists along the aqueduct and MWD facilities “to prevent unauthorized access,” and signage warns about the dangers of entering the canal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

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

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 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

It transports water across more than 700 miles with a series of reservoirs, aqueducts, pipelines and pumping plants from Northern California to Southern California.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 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

The system of aqueducts and pipelines transports water from the Delta to 27 million people in cities from the Bay Area to San Diego, and to 750,000 acres of farmland.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2026

Perhaps it was an old water line from the aqueducts.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

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