artesian

American  

[ahr-tee-zhuhn] / ɑrˈti ʒən /

adjective

1. noting, pertaining to, or characteristic of an artesian well.

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Other Word Forms

• subartesian adjective

Etymology

Origin of artesian

1820–30; < French artésien pertaining to Artois ( Old French Arteis Artois + -ien -ian ), after the wells of this kind in the region

Compare meaning

How does artesian compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• artisan vs. artesian

Explanation

Use the adjective artesian to describe water that flows naturally from underground to the surface. An artesian well doesn't require a pump. When underground water is tapped by boring a well at a certain angle, it creates an artesian well or artesian aquifer. The word artesian comes from the French phrase puits artésien, "wells of Artois," the province in France where artesian wells were originally drilled in the 18th century.

Example Sentences

Johnson and his colleagues are investigating whether the artesian groundwater could be used safely to reduce dust, which contains harmful metals.

From Science Daily • Mar. 21, 2026

One relic from this era is the Beverly Hot Springs, an artesian well once used by Native Americans that was rediscovered in 1910 when Richard S. Grant purchased the land as a wheat field.

From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2025

The deep pit, dug by the landowner to be an artesian well, had been left uncovered after it failed to strike groundwater, Phop Phra district chief Sanya Phetset told Thairath TV on Tuesday.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 7, 2023

Before Interstate 40 arrived in the late ’60s, people pulled off Route 66 to rest at its neon-lit motels and swim in Blue Hole, an artesian well.

From New York Times • Nov. 14, 2019

I tapped an artesian well of good feeling and made a small speech in my pidgin type of French.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck